Liz Cheney wins Wyoming House primary election

CHEYENNE, Wyo., Aug. 17 (UPI) -- Liz Cheney, the daughter of former Vice President Dick Cheney, dominated a crowded Republican primary in Wyoming, making her the prohibitive favorite in November to win a House seat her father held for 21 years.

The younger Cheney captured 40 percent of the vote in an eight-way primary in solidly Republican Wyoming, the Cheney family's home state.

Her victory marks a turnaround from what turned out to be a disastrous Senate campaign in 2014, when she launched a primary challenge against popular incumbent Sen. Mike Enzi. Cheney quit that race amid allegations of carpet-bagging because she had lived nearly all her life in Virginia, outside Washington, D.C.

Since then, The Wall Street Journal reported Cheney committed herself to cementing ties in Wyoming, frequently visiting diners, church functions and other social gatherings to reinforce her familial roots in the nation's most rural state.

Wyoming's lone House seat is being vacated by Rep. Cynthia Lummis, a Republican who was first elected in 2008. Lummis announced she will retire at the end of this term.

Cheney has raised $1.5 million, about $1 million more than her next closest opponent, and defeated state lawmakers Tim Stubson and Leland Christensen, second- and third-place vote-getters.

Cheney's opponent in the general election is Democrat Charlie Hardy, who has never held elected office and has raised just $11,000 for the campaign thus far.