Cheney fundraising surge continues, as Wyoming congresswoman sets second straight record

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Liz Cheney speaks out after being ousted by Republican Party

Former GOP conference chair Rep. Liz Cheney responds to being ousted of her position, and speaks out against her successor Elise Stefanik

EXCLUSIVE – Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyoming, the most high-profile of the 10 House Republicans who voted in January to impeach then-President Donald Trump, set a second straight quarterly fundraising record.

Cheney's 2022 reelection campaign hauled in $1.88 million in the April-June second quarter of fundraising, an increase from the record-setting $1.5 million Cheney brought in during the first three months of the year. Cheney for Wyoming shared the fundraising figures first with Fox News on Tuesday morning.

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The nearly $3.5 million Wyoming's three-term at large member of the House has raised so far this year surpasses the $3 million Cheney brought in during the entire 2020 cycle for her successful reelection.

Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., speaks to reporters after House Republicans voted to oust her from her leadership post as chair of the House Republican Conference, at the Capitol in Washington, Wednesday, May 12, 2021. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite) (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

The campaign also highlighted that the congresswoman, the daughter of former Vice President Dick Cheney, has $2.85 million cash on hand as of the end of June, double the $1.43 million she had in her campaign coffers three months ago. Her money in the bank gives Cheney a significant fundraising advantage over any of the primary challengers seeking to oust her in 2022.

Cheney, a longtime vocal GOP critic of Donald Trump, was the most senior House Republican to vote to impeach the then-president on a charge of inciting the deadly Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol by right-wing extremists and other Trump supporters, who aimed to disrupt congressional certification of Trump's presidential election defeat to now-President Biden. 

Cheney immediately came under verbal attack by Trump and his allies, but in February she easily crushed an effort by Trump loyalists in the House to dump her from her leadership position as House Republican Conference Chair.

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Trump continued to target Cheney, as well as the other nine House Republicans who voted to impeach him and the seven GOP senators who voted to convict the now-former president in his impeachment trial in February. And in May she was ousted from her number three House GOP Republican leadership position.

Cheney's been very vocal in emphasizing the importance of defending the nation's democratic process, and in May gave a well-covered speech in the House chamber about putting love and defense of the country above partisan politics.

She was also one of the few in the GOP to support an independent, bipartisan, commission to investigate the lead-up and the storming of the Capitol on Jan. 6. The commission, backed by Democrats and opposed by most Republicans, was defeated in a Senate vote.

After the blocking of the commission, Cheney voted for and was named to serve on a House Select Committee, organized by congressional Democrats, that's charged with investigating the insurrection.

"Liz Cheney is standing up for the Constitution, for conservative values, and for the rule of law. As these fundraising numbers make clear, she has robust support in this fight," Cheney political adviser Kevin Seifert emphasized in a statement to Fox News.

"Liz is demonstrating the type of effective, principled leadership that Wyoming deserves from its Representative. She will continue to fight the Biden Administration’s overreach and articulate how Republicans can offer a better way forward for the nation. It’s encouraging to have so many join her effort," Seifert added.

Cheney outraised Rep. Elise Stefanik of New York, who succeeded her as House Republican Conference chair. Politico reported on Tuesday morning that Stefanik raised nearly $1.5 million the past three months.

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Wyoming state Sen. Anthony Bouchard, one of the better known of the Republicans challenging Cheney from the right, said a month ago that he had raised $500,000 since launching his campaign earlier in the year. Bouchard's congressional bid hit a bump in May when he disclosed that when he was 18-years-old he got a 14-year-old girl pregnant.

Wyoming state Rep. Chuck Gray and lawyer Darin Smith are also among the seven candidates who are primary challenging Cheney. The challengers, touting their support for Trump, have embraced the former president’s unsubstantiated claims that the 2020 election was "rigged" and "stolen."