Liz Cheney, daughter of former Vice President Dick Cheney, has announced that she will run for US Senate against incumbent Senator Mike Enzi in Wyoming’s Republican primary next year.

Although Cheney has spent most of her life outside the state, the attorney and former Fox News contributor has been in Wyoming in recent weeks, talking with prospective constituents. In her announcement video, Cheney promised to fight for lower taxes and freedom for the private sector, especially the energy industry.
 

University of Wyoming Political Science Professor says Cheney has the option of playing up her youth against Enzi. She’s more than 20 years younger.
 

“Some younger candidates in essence try to take advantage of that very subtly; you know, in terms of their vitality, their connections to younger voters, those types of things. So there is an avenue there, but this is not the typical vulnerable incumbent. This is an incumbent who’s gonna be running from, you know, a relatively strong position,” King says.
 

But King says Enzi is still popular among Wyoming Republicans, so Cheney has her work cut out for her. He says Cheney only recently established residency in her father’s home state, while Senator Mike Enzi – who has held the seat since 1997 – is still popular among Wyoming Republicans.
 

“He has not cast numbers of votes that are in opposition to constituency opinion. There are no allegations that he’s lost touch with the constituency,” King says. “He maintains those connections that you would expect an incumbent to maintain when they’re going to be running for reelection.”
 

King expects this to be one of the more expensive senate campaign seasons Wyoming has seen.