We'll Be Back Tomorrow Morning
Well, it’s an early night in Wyoming, with just 38 percent of the vote in, ABC News has projected that attorney Harriet Hageman has defeated Rep. Liz Cheney in Wyoming’s at-large House district.
Latest count in Wyoming’s at-large district GOP primary
Results of the Republican primary for Wyoming’s at-large congressional district, as of 10:37 p.m. Eastern
| Candidate | Votes | Vote % |
|---|---|---|
| Harriet Hageman | 28,203 | 59.2% |
| Liz Cheney* | 17,345 | 36.4 |
| Anthony Bouchard | 1,201 | 2.5 |
| Denton Knapp | 449 | 0.9 |
| Robyn M. Belinskey | 349 | 0.7 |
As we discussed in great detail on the live blog, this wasn’t a surprise. Cheney built a reputation for herself as one of Trump’s most ardent critics, which didn’t endear her to voters at home. Cheney’s loss also is the final data point we needed in understanding how the 10 House Republicans who voted to impeach Trump following the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol fared. Spoiler: They didn’t do well, as Geoffrey discusses in greater detail in his reaction to tonight’s vote.
Meanwhile, in the Republican primary for Wyoming secretary of state, pro-democracy Tara Nethercott has a small lead over election denier Chuck Gray, 46 percent to 45 percent. All the other races we are watching tonight are in Alaska, but because the polls don’t close there until 1 a.m. Eastern, we’ll be back online tomorrow morning to discuss what went down there.
In anticipation of that, though, here is a preview of the four races we’re watching in Alaska, which is using a new “top-four” primary system where all candidates (regardless of party) run on the same ballot and the top four vote-getters advance to a ranked-choice general election.
- First, of course, is the U.S. Senate race featuring anti-Trump Sen. Lisa Murkowski. She and Trump-endorsed candidate Kelly Tshibaka are virtually certain to advance to the general election; the question is, which two candidates will join them, and what will the vote tallies look like? (How much of the vote Murkowski and Tshibaka receive gives us a sense for what their base of support will be in the general election.)
- There’s also a special election for the U.S House between Republican Sarah Palin, Republican Nick Begich and Democrat Mary Peltola. Because this election is employing ranked-choice voting, any of the three candidates could realistically be the winner. However, we’re going to have to wait until Aug. 31 to know who it is, since the ranked-choice tabulations can’t take place until the last mail ballot is received.
- There’s also a simultaneous U.S. House primary for the full term. The same three candidates are the front-runners there as well.
Finally, the primary for governor will give us a clue about whether incumbent Republican Mike Dunleavy is vulnerable and who his most serious challenger is. Dunleavy faces challenges from independent former Gov. Bill Walker and Democrat Les Gara on the left, and Republicans Christopher Kurka and Charlie Pierce on the right.
