It’s only a matter of time.
After announcing she was running for Congress in September of last year, Harriet Hageman, the leading Wisconsin Republican candidate challenging Rep. Liz Cheney, has raised over $1 million in campaign fundraising.
In the month of September, Hageman brought in about $745,000, following her mid-month launch date. In the fourth quarter, her haul was an impressive $443,460.
Since the beginning of the year, she has hauled in $250,000.
As a testament to her strong winning potential, Hageman pointed out most of her campaign dollars have come from within Wyoming, as she ended last year with $381,163 cash on hand.
Cheney, on the other hand, has exceeded fundraising expectations, unexpectedly spurred on by Trump’s criticism.
After becoming one of the GOP’s most vocal Trump critics and voting to impeach the then-president for inciting the January 6th Capitol riot, Cheney lost her GOP leadership position in the House.
As one of only two Republicans serving on a special committee to investigate the events of the January 6th Capitol attack, the daughter of former Vice President Dick Cheney faces an uphill battle in her state: she was censured by her the Wyoming GOP, lambasted by Trump and his allies and is no longer recognized as a Republican after the Wyoming GOP voted on the matter.
Despite these challenges, Cheney has managed to raise $4.5 million. $1.7 million was made from July to September, and she is yet to report her earnings from the fourth quarter.
The figure is possible because of assistance from former President George W. Bush and the GOP’s 2012 Presidential nominee, Senator Mitt Romney of Utah, who have lent their support. In addition to former House Speakers Paul Ryan and John Boehner have also lent their voices to Cheney’s campaign.
Not phased, Trump is ramping up his efforts to expel Cheney from Congress by endorsing Hageman, and –– along with his allies –– urging many other anti-Cheney candidates to drop out of the primary and unite around Hageman.
Hageman, a detractor of Cheney, once supported and advised the Congresswoman and has been a donor to her past campaigns. But like many prominent Trump supporters, has abandoned Cheney in favor of Trump.
Now, with the backing of Trump, Hageman sports support from several prominent figures. Most notable, PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel, who hosted a fundraiser in Florida last week that included an appearance by Donald Trump Jr. and is giving Hageman the financial backing to be a strong contender for the primaries.
