More money, more problems: Cheney and Kinzinger feel Trump effect
Kinzinger, who represents a deep-red district in exurban Chicago, never raised more than $350,000 in a single quarter during the 2020 cycle. But during the first three months of 2021 — after his support for the second Trump impeachment — he skyrocketed to $1.1 million.
While their rising profiles give them a new megaphone as well as deep pockets, it’s not clear whether either incumbent has a path to victory running as an anti-Trump candidate in a GOP primary. Still, their shaky futures in the House haven’t stopped some Republicans on Capitol Hill from privately musing whether Cheney and Kinzinger are eyeing future bids for the Oval Office. Both have also recently created PACs and aligned publicly with law enforcement officers as some in their party decline to honor responders to the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, both signals of possible interest in a higher office.
Allies of Cheney, whose April reluctance to rule out a future White House run helped accelerate her ouster from leadership, say that at a minimum her fundraising numbers will help her fight back against Trump as he tries to boot her from the political arena.
Cheney’s team touted its haul, first reported by Fox News, as proof that she has “robust support in this fight” to win reelection in her state’s at-large district.
“Liz is demonstrating the type of effective, principled leadership that Wyoming deserves from its Representative,” spokesperson Kevin Seifert said in a statement. “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.”
Among Cheney and Kinzinger’s conference colleagues, some were quick to dismiss the prospect that anti-Trumpers could have any room atop the party’s ticket.
“Anyone who thinks there’s a different path for higher office in a Republican primary other than the Trump platform is delusional,” said Rep. Guy Reschenthaler (R-Pa.), who identified as a Cheney ally before her spring leadership eviction. “I have not spoken with Liz or Adam about their long-term goals. However, maybe looking at the battle they face in a primary, they think higher office is an easier path.”
Other Republicans waved off the idea that Cheney and Kinzinger are focused on anything beyond their House reelection bids. Rep. Don Bacon (R-Neb.) said he presumes Cheney and Kinzinger’s numbers mean they are “coming in with as much as ammo as possible to win reelection.”
If Trump seeks the presidency again in 2024, he is expected to clear the field of multiple allies also weighing a potential bid. But he has no power to elbow away Cheney or Kinzinger, both establishment conservatives who’ve embraced the role of his foils. Kinzinger is also believed to be weighing a run for Senate or the governor’s mansion in his state, though his chances would be limited by Republicans’ struggle to win statewide in Illinois.
Back in Wyoming’s at-large district, Cheney’s largesse — she has over $2.8 million cash on hand — will dwarf that of her challengers. Since her election in 2016, Cheney has remained a strong fundraiser, armed with her father’s rolodex of conservative donors and a last name that still commands prestige in the state where former Vice President Dick Cheney got his political start.
Even so, her opponents have cast her crusade against Trump as a self-serving exercise that won’t endear her to Wyomingites. And rather than shying from this potentially political kryptonite, Cheney is expected to lean even more heavily into her anti-Trump campaign while serving on the select committee examining the deadly Jan. 6 insurrection, at the appointment of Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
