A new poll out Wednesday shows House Republican Conference Chair Liz Cheney facing trouble on two fronts as she fights to retain her position in GOP leadership on Capitol Hill.
According to a new poll from the Club for Growth, a conservative political action committee with a focus on economic freedom, Cheney’s support is underwater at home as Republicans in Washington demand a second referendum to kick the Wyoming lawmaker from her number three role in leadership.
Fifty-two percent of likely Republican primary voters said they would vote against Cheney next year no matter the opponent. Only 14 percent said they would continue to support her.
NEW: @club4growth poll shows trouble for Liz Cheney in #WYAL
>> 52% of GOP primary voters would vote against her regardless of who challenges her in '22
>> 14% would back her regardless
>> Her favorables are underwater at 29/65WPAi poll of 415 LVs from April 21-22, +/-4.9% pic.twitter.com/fkIAoZcU5x
— Ally Mutnick (@allymutnick) May 5, 2021
Cheney’s tanking favorability ratings show the incumbent representative has a hard road ahead to win back voters disenfranchised with her persistent antagonism of former President Donald Trump and his base. Sixty-five percent of GOP primary voters in Wyoming saw their representative in a negative light, while less than 20 percent reported the same of Trump. In total, the at-large Wyoming congresswoman suffers a net-negative 36 percent favorability rating – a stark contrast to Trump’s in the state with a net-positive of 60 percent.
The Club for Growth survey interviewed 415 likely GOP voters between April 21-22 with a +/-4.9 percent margin of error.
While the poll results show a slight uptick in support from another survey conducted shortly after Cheney’s crusade to impeachment Trump, where only 10 percent of Wyoming Republican primary voters reported willingness to re-elect her, the results show a lawmaker in trouble at home moving into next year’s contest. At the same time, she’s lost the support she enjoyed among the party’s top leadership in Washington three months after she survived the first referendum on her conference chairmanship.
On Wednesday morning, House Republican Minority Whip Steve Scalise of Louisiana released a statement endorsing New York Rep. Elise Stefanik to replace Cheney as conference chair.
“House Republicans need to be solely focused on taking back the House in 2022 and fighting against Speaker Pelosi and President Biden’s radical socialist agenda,” Scalise spokeswoman Lauren Fine said in a statement. “Elise Stefanik is strongly committed to doing that, which is why Whip Scalise has pledged to support her for Conference Chair.”
The statement came one day after House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy was caught on a hot mic airing grievances over a defiant Cheney.
“I’ve had it with her. You know, I’ve lost confidence,” McCarthy said before a “Fox & Friends” interview.
Another vote on Cheney’s chairmanship is likely to come next week.
