WYOMING – Not much changed yesterday as far as state representation in Washington. Wyoming voters returned both US Sen. John Barrasso and US Rep. Liz Cheney for additional terms.
“Thank you, Cowboy State!” Barrasso said in a prepared statement. “It is a deep honor to be re-elected to the Senate, and to keep serving as your voice for less government, lower taxes, a strong economy, and more jobs. This is a huge victory for our Wyoming values.”
In victory, Cheney declares another candidacy
For her part, Cheney didn’t waste any time celebrating. The congresswoman took the opportunity to announce her candidacy for the House Republican Conference Chair.
“Last night did not turn out as we had hoped. Many of our colleagues, good men and women fighting for the future of our nation, lost close races. A number of races have yet to be decided. We need to do all we can for those colleagues,” Cheney stated in a release. “Today, the next battle begins. Although the 115th Congress has been one of the most productive in history, our message isn’t breaking through. Despite the tremendous success of the Trump economy, tax cuts, historic regulatory reform, and crucial efforts to begin rebuilding our military and restoring American strength and power, we will be in the minority in the 116th Congress. For us to prevail in this new environment, we must fundamentally overhaul and modernize our House GOP communications operation.”
Cheney emphasized the importance for the now-minority House Republicans to band together and dominate daily news cycles with messaging that aggressively refutes false claims from Democrats.
“We need to be able to drive our message across all platforms. We need to own the daily news cycles. We need to lead and win the messaging wars. Too often we have found ourselves playing catch up without access to useful information, and we have not been on offense. Constantly playing defense in the battle of communications is a recipe for failure,” Cheney said. “The Democrats have told us what they plan to do with the majority. Every member of our conference must be armed and ready to go on offense. We must also have an effective rapid response operation—deploying immediate rebuttals and prebuttals to the Democrats’ false claims.”
Enzi congratulates the voting public and his peers
US Sen. Mike Enzi said today, “America once again saw millions of citizens go to the polls to exercise their right to vote on Election Day. No matter their party affiliation, running for office takes a leap of faith and I applaud those who took a chance and put their name on a ballot. Congratulations to Senator John Barrasso and Congresswoman Liz Cheney on their re-elections to the Senate and House. Wyoming has long had a strong team in its delegation and I look forward to continuing to work with them to tackle the most important issues ahead in the next Congress. I am also looking forward to working with Wyoming’s next governor Mark Gordon to support the people of Wyoming.”
