Source: Politics<\/p>\n
The moment Donald Trump picked his favorite to take on his nemesis, Rep. Liz Cheney, other pieces started falling into place in Wyoming.<\/p>\n
One of Cheney\u2019s other potential primary challengers promptly signaled he wouldn\u2019t run, and another candidate dropped out and endorsed Harriet Hageman soon after Trump endorsed her in the Republican primary against Cheney \u2014 moving the race toward the one-on-one battle Trump craves in his quest for revenge against Cheney<\/a> after her aisle-crossing vote to impeach him.<\/p>\n \u201cI said hell would freeze over before I’d be the reason Liz Cheney gets re-elected to represent the great state of Wyoming in the U.S. House,” businessman Darin Smith said in a press statement that announced he would suspend his campaign. \u201cUnity is our strength, and it’s imperative that we unite to take this great Country back.”<\/p>\n State Sen. Bo Biteman, who had also interviewed with Trump to become his endorsed candidate in Wyoming, expressed little interest in running a campaign after the former president made a different pick. Biteman told POLITICO that the Hageman endorsement \u201cdoesn\u2019t change anything for me as I never officially entered the race. <\/p>\n Two other announced candidates remained in the primary as of Thursday night but didn\u2019t return calls for comment. One other Republican considering a bid privately told POLITICO that it wasn\u2019t worth it now.<\/p>\n The winnowing of the field of challengers and potential challengers came as little surprise in Wyoming, which was both Trump\u2019s best state in the 2020 election as well as the home of the highest-profile Republican supporter of his impeachment following the Jan. 6 Capitol riot.<\/p>\n Before Trump made his endorsement of Hageman, he and his team spent months vetting and interviewing candidates, including extracting promises that they would drop out of the race if they weren\u2019t picked. Trump made the extraordinary request because polling showed that Cheney would be easier to beat in a one-on-one primary matchup.<\/p>\n Trump didn\u2019t pick Hageman out of nowhere. Wyoming Republicans, led by state GOP Chair Frank Eathorne, encouraged Trump to interview the former land-use attorney, whose 2018 run for governor made her a favorite of conservatives. Trump\u2019s former chief of staff, Mark Meadows, also played a key role in advocating for Hageman, two people close to the Trump orbit said.<\/p>\n \u201cHarriet is respected around the around the state. She had a great campaign for governor. She’ll be a very good candidate,\u201d said former Wyoming GOP Chair Matt Micheli. \u201cThere is no doubt that Trump\u2019s endorsement will make her even stronger.\u201d <\/p>\n Before the first challenger called it quits, Micheli predicted that Trump\u2019s endorsement would thin the herd.<\/p>\n \u201cI suspect most of the other candidates probably will drop out,\u201d he said. \u201cIf they have a realistic view and do the analysis, they’ll come to that conclusion. I think there’ll be one or two that probably stays in because they’re doing it more for a political point than to actually win.\u201d<\/p>\n Micheli wouldn\u2019t name names, but one candidate who has shown the most interest in staying in is state Sen. Anthony Bouchard, who took to Twitter to criticize the Hageman pick and posted pictures of her with Cheney, whom Hageman once supported.<\/p>\n \u201cLiz Cheney succeeded getting Trump to pick Cheney\u2019s BFF for her replacement. Hageman was in Cheney’s Campaign both initial and re-elections. (Liz Cheney\u2019s Campaign Photos \u2018scrubbed\u2019 from the Internet by Hageman),\u201d Bouchard wrote.<\/p>\n Bouchard couldn\u2019t be reached, nor could state Rep. Chuck Gray, another congressional candidate.<\/p>\n Cheney met the Trump endorsement with defiance.<\/p>\n