United States Senate elections in Wyoming, 2014

2014 U.S. Senate Elections in Wyoming

General Election Date November 4, 2014

Primary Date August 19, 2014

November 4 Election Winner: Mike Enzi

Incumbent prior to election: Mike Enzi

Race Ratings Cook Political Report: Solid Republican Sabato's Crystal Ball: Safe R

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2014 U.S. House Elections

Voters in Wyoming will elect one member to the U.S. Senate in the election on November 4, 2014. In 2013, Liz Cheney launched a campaign to unseat Sen. Mike Enzi, making the race one to watch in 2014. Cheney, however, dropped out of the race in January 2014, citing family health issues. With Cheney out of the race, Enzi faces an easy path to re-election. Enzi will face four challengers in the Republican primary on August 19, 2014: James Gregory, Arthur Clifton, Bryan Miller and Thomas Bleming. Charlie Hardy, Al Hamburg and Rex Wilde will face off in the Democratic primary with William Bryk, who is also running for Senate in Alaska and has run for Senate in Oregon and Idaho this year. When asked why he has entered multiple races he said, "I think it is a public service, and it is really fun. To me, it is a harmless and painless way of getting the party system to do its job. The job of an opposition party is to oppose. The whole purpose of an adversarial political system is to gain power by defeating the other guy, and when you don’t run candidates you are not doing that." The winners will face independent Curt Gottshall and Libertarian Joe Porambo in the general election. The race is rated a "Safe Republican" contest by Rothenberg Political Report/Roll Call.

Candidate Filing Deadline	Primary Election	General Election
May 30, 2014	August 19, 2014	November 4, 2014

Primary: A primary election is an election in which registered voters select a candidate that they believe should be a political party's candidate for elected office to run in the general election. They are also used to choose convention delegates and party leaders. Primaries are state-level and local-level elections that take place prior to a general election. Wyoming utilizes a closed primary process.

For information about which offices are nominated via primary election, see this article.

Voter registration: Voters had to register to vote in the primary by election day. For the general election, the voter registration deadline was October 20, 2014.

See also: Wyoming elections, 2014

Incumbent: The election will fill the Senate seat currently held by Mike Enzi (R). Enzi was first elected in 1996.

Candidates

General election candidates

• Mike Enzi - Incumbenta
• Charlie Hardy
• Curt Gottshall
• Joe Porambo

August 19, 2014, primary results

Republican Primary

• Mike Enzi - Incumbenta
• James Gregory
• Arthur Clifton
• Bryan Miller
• Thomas Bleming

Democratic Primary

• Charlie Hardya
• Al Hamburg
• Rex Wilde
• William Bryk

Withdrew from race

• Liz Cheney - Daughter of former Vice President Dick Cheney

Race background

The projected primary battle between incumbent Mike Enzi and Liz Cheney was pinpointed as one of the top five primaries to watch in 2014, with Cheney and her father openly feuding with Enzi. Cheney, however, dropped out of the race on January 6, 2014, because of family health issues.

Primary vulnerability

Enzi was named by National Journal as one of the top five incumbent senators at risk of losing his or her primary election in 2014. Four of the five most vulnerable senators were Republican. Enzi was added to this list before Cheney dropped out of the race.

Issues

Pre-primary controversy

Cheney

Same-sex marriage

Mary Cheney, the younger sister of Liz Cheney, sharply criticized her sister’s stance on same-sex marriage and urged her own Facebook friends to share the message.

Posting on Facebook on August 30, 2013, Mary Cheney, who is gay and married her longtime partner in 2012, wrote: “For the record, I love my sister, but she is dead wrong on the issue of marriage.”

Their father, former Vice President Dick Cheney, supports same-sex marriage, and the younger Cheney echoed some of his language on the issue when she added, “Freedom means freedom for everyone...That means that all families — regardless of how they look or how they are made — all families are entitled to the same rights, privileges and protections as every other,” Mary Cheney wrote.

Earlier on August 30, 2013, Liz Cheney revealed her position on same-sex marriage, a topic she has kept relatively quiet about since declaring her candidacy in July 2013 against incumbent Mike Enzi. “I am not pro-gay marriage,” Liz Cheney said in a statement responding to poll against her in Wyoming. “I believe the issue of marriage must be decided by the states, and by the people in the states, not by judges and not even by legislators, but by the people themselves.”

That position — deferring to the will of the voters on a state-by-state basis — may represent something of a compromise between total support or opposition, but did little to placate her sister.

“It’s not something to be decided by a show of hands,” Mary Cheney wrote. Mary Cheney concluded her Facebook post: “Please like and share if you agree.” In an e-mail, Mary Cheney declined to comment further on her sister’s position, saying she would let her Facebook post speak for itself.

Wyoming Fishing License

Liz Cheney came under fire in August 2013 for purchasing a resident fishing license in Wyoming when she did not qualify.Wyoming resident fishing licenses require the holder to reside in Wyoming for at least one year. Cheney did not meet that requirement. She posted a $220 bond and appeared in court on August 27, 2013, to address a charge of making a false statement to obtain a license. Cheney claimed she was not aware of the year requirement, but her application for the license said she had resided in Wyoming for the last 10 years. Cheney denied telling the clerk the residency claim that appeared on the application.

Fishing is a popular sport in Wyoming and the charge reflected poorly on Cheney, according to Wyoming Republican strategist, Liz Brimmer. Brimmer said, “Allegedly poaching in a state where being a resident sportsman is, by law, an earned privilege. Wyoming people will take this very seriously.”

Healthcare

In August 2013, Liz Cheney called on Mike Enzi, among other congressional members, to renounce the agreement allowing the government to subsidize part of the health care premiums for Congressional members and their staff. "The hypocrisy is stunning...But all too typical of how Congress works. Members cut special deals for themselves so they don’t feel the pain their laws inflict on the general public. That’s one of the reasons I’m running for the Senate — to end this self-serving, behind the scenes deal-making." Enzi's campaign spokesperson responded, "Senator Enzi has already opposed it and the other exemptions and delays for businesses, insurance companies etc. Senator Enzi will continue his efforts to defund and dismantle Obamacare. He’ll make decisions about his own health care without help from candidate Cheney."

Involvement in Syria

See also: United States involvement in Syria

In September 2013, Liz Cheney called President Obama's desired involvement in Syria "an amateurish approach to national security and foreign policy." She continued by confirming that she would not vote to authorize intervention in Syria.

According to a report by The Hill in September 2013, Cheney was among four Republican senate candidates who had come out against intervening in Syria while the incumbent challenger, in this case Enzi, remained undecided.

Media

Charlie Hardy

"RUN WITH CHARLIE 2014."

Liz Cheney

Cheney's July 2013 video, "A Strong Voice for Wyoming."

Endorsements

Mike Enzi

• Sen. Rand Paul endorsed Enzi over Liz Cheney, citing unfamiliarity with Cheney's political positions. Paul said, "I am a friend of Sen. Enzi and while we aren’t exactly the same, I consider him a good conservative."
• Sen. Jerry Moran, the National Republican Senatorial Committee Chairman announced the official party body will support Enzi and several Senators have followed suit, including Wyoming Senator John Barrasso.
• Sen. John McCain endorsed Enzi.
• Former Sen. Olympia Snowe endorsed Enzi. She stated:
  • "There is no reason to challenge him. What is the basis? That he’s not working hard enough? He’s working very hard. That he’s not conservative enough? I think it’s regrettable.”
• Sen. Orrin Hatch endorsed Enzi. He stated:
  • “I don’t know why in the world she’s doing this." Enzi is “honest and decent, hard-working; he’s got very important positions in the Senate. He’s highly respected. And these are all things that would cause anybody to say: ‘Why would anybody run against him?’”
• Sen John Cornyn endorsed Enzi, although he likes Cheney as well. He reasoned:
  • “This is about getting the majority in the Senate. And we have to support our friends and people who have done a good job.”

Liz Cheney

On Liz Cheney's campaign website, an endorsement from Rush Limbaugh was posted. Limbaugh said, “I’ve known you for many, many years. Throughout the entire time I’ve known you, you haven’t changed. Your conservatism has been consistent and solid and in fact, it may have even gotten stronger....We need about 95 more of you.”

Polls

Republican primary
Poll	Mike Enzi	Liz Cheney	Undecided	Margin of error	Sample size
Public Policy Polling Juy 19-21, 2013	55%	26%	19%	+/-3.5	780
Harper Polling July 17-18, 2013	55%	21%	24%	+/-4.77	422
AVERAGES	55%	23.5%	21.5%	+/-4.14	601
Note: The polls above may not reflect all polls that have been conducted in this race. Those displayed are a random sampling chosen by Ballotpedia staff. If you would like to nominate another poll for inclusion in the table, send an email to editor@ballotpedia.org.

A July 17-18, 2013, poll conducted by Harper Polling, found that Wyoming Republican voters favored Mike Enzi 55 percent to Liz Cheney's 21 percent. The poll found that both candidates had near universal name recognition in the state. It also indicated Cheney would have faced an uphill battle for the seat, if she had stayed in the race, as incumbent Mike Enzi had a 73 percent approval rating. Of those polled, 38 percent said that they had heard of Cheney but had no opinion of her.

Campaign contributions

Candidate ballot access
Find detailed information on ballot access requirements in all 50 states and Washington, D.C.

Mike Enzi

Candidates for Congress were required to file up to seven main reports with the Federal Election Commission during the 2014 elections season. Below are Enzi's reports.

Mike Enzi (2014) Campaign Finance Reports
Report	Date Filed	Beginning Balance	Total Contributions for Reporting Period	Expenditures	Cash on Hand
April Quarterly	April 14, 2013	$275,211.00	$163,915.68	$(63,230.56)	$375,896.12
July Quarterly	July 15, 2013	$375,896.12	$171,290.52	$(59,036.10)	$488,150.54
October Quarterly	October 15, 2013	$488,150.54	$848,311.48	$(127,053.13)	$1,209,408.89
Year-end	January 31, 2014	$1,209,408	$987,352	$(369,036)	$1,827,725
			Running totals
			$2,170,869.68	$(618,355.79)

Charlie Hardy

Candidates for Congress were required to file up to seven main reports with the Federal Election Commission during the 2014 elections season. Below are Hardy's reports.

Charlie Hardy (2014) Campaign Finance Reports
Report	Date Filed	Beginning Balance	Total Contributions for Reporting Period	Expenditures	Cash on Hand
Year-End	January 31, 2014	$0.00	$8,639.01	$(2,459.26)	$6,179.75
April Quarterly	April 15, 2014	$6,179.75	$23,941.95	$(27,784.79)	$2,336.91
July Quarterly	July 15, 2014	$2,336.91	$20,477.35	$(20,767.08)	$2,047.18
			Running totals
			$53,058.31	$(51,011.13)

Liz Cheney

Liz Cheney (2014) Campaign Finance Reports
Report	Date Filed	Beginning Balance	Total Contributions for Reporting Period	Expenditures	Cash on Hand
October Quarterly	October 8, 2013	$0.00	$1,027,569.90	$(232,507.18)	$795,062.72
			Running totals
			$1,027,569.9	$(232,507.18)

Election history

2008

On November 4, 2008, Enzi won re-election to the U.S. Senate, defeating Chris Rothfuss (D).

U.S. Senate, Wyoming General Election, 2008
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Mike Enzi Incumbent	75.7%	189,046
	Democratic	Chris Rothfuss	24.3%	60,631
Total Votes				249,677

See also

• United States House of Representatives elections in Wyoming, 2014
• United States Senate elections, 2014

External links

• Wyoming Secretary of State

References

[show]

Wyoming's current delegation to the United States Congress

Senators

John Barrasso (R)

Cynthia Lummis (R)

Representatives

Harriet Hageman (R)

Republican Party (3)