Trump eliminates Liz Cheney — and another GOP political dynasty

WASHINGTON- If it’s Wednesday… Liz Cheney lose by more than 2 to 1 in his Wyoming GOP primary. …Cheney recount NBC’s Savannah Guthrie in an exclusive interview: “I don’t think anyone in a political party should support election deniers.” …Senator Lisa Murkowski and Trump-backed challenger Kelly Tshibaka advance in the Top 4 of the Alaska Senate primaries. … The Alaska House Special heads in the ranked choice final. … Rudy Giuliani testifies before a special grand jury in Georgia, according to NBC’s Blayne Alexander and Charlie Gile. … And a GOP group is airing new TV ads slamming Democrats on the economy.

But first : Donald Trump didn’t just get his election revenge against Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., who voted to impeach the former president in the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.

He also ended up overthrowing another Republican political dynasty.

In 2016, Trump beat Jeb Bush and the rest of the GOP field.

This cycle, he helped defeat Bush’s son, George P., despite the younger Bush’s efforts to get closer to Trump.

Last night Trump helped challenger Harriet Hageman blast Cheney – daughter of former Republican Vice President Dick Cheney – nearly 40 points in Wyoming.

And think of other former rising stars and well-known GOP politicians who have lost or retired from electoral politics in recent years: Jeff Flake, Bob Corker, Mark Sanford, Paul Ryan, Fred Upton, Jaime Herrera Beutler . .

This raises an important point about 2024 and the future of the GOP: Who is left in the party — at least from its traditional power bases and networks — to take on Trump if he does run?

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (who really never tried to challenge Trump, despite his rhetoric after Jan. 6)? Mitt Romney (who is re-elected in 24)? Florida Governor Ron DeSantis (who didn’t really object to Trump’s politics or style)?

But the Bush-Cheney losses in the Trump era raise another point: it was the failures of the Bush-Cheney administration – and in particular the failed war in Iraq – that gave Donald Trump the opportunity to take control of the Republican Party in the first place.

Tweet of the day

Downloading data: The day number is … 28

That’s how many counts former U.S. Representative TJ Cox, D-California, faces, according to a new indictment released Tuesday. Cox was charged with 15 counts of wire fraud, 11 counts of money laundering, one count of financial institution fraud and one count of campaign contribution fraud. One of those charges relates to accusations that he helped run a straw donation program ahead of his 2018 campaign.

If convicted, the charges could result in decades in prison and more than $1 million in fines. Cox pleaded not guilty, according to KSEE-24, and in a brief interview said he looked “look forward to vigorously defending these allegations against me.”

Other numbers to know:

12: The number of House members who have lost their primaries this cycle after Cheney’s loss – eight Republicans and four Democrats.

37%: The polio vaccination rate in a county in Rockland, NY, zip code, where paralytic poliomyelitis has been recorded.

$3.9 billion: How much federal student debt the Biden administration canceled from students who went to ITT Tech.

24: How many years has it been since Alaska re-elected an incumbent governor.

Mid-term report: primary results and a special waiting game

The results of most of last night’s top contests are in, with the exception of Alaska’s special election for the remainder of late GOP Rep. Don Young’s term, thanks to the new ranked voting system. the state.

NBC’s Decision Desk predicts that none of the candidates, which included former GOP Governor Sarah Palin, Republican Nick Begich and Democrat Mary Peltola, will win a majority of votes in the first round, meaning the vote by ranked choice will be used to determine the winner later. month.

But there are clear results in other races that we were watching last night. Remember that in Alaska, the top 4 voters in the primary qualify for the general election.

Here are the latest vote tallies from NBC’s Decision Desk:

Alaska Senate: GOP Senator Lisa Murkowski (44%) and her Trump-backed GOP challenger Kelly Tshibaka (40%) will pass in November, along with Democrat Pat Chesbro (6%). With 67% of the expected votes, we still don’t know who will take fourth place.

Governor of Alaska: GOP Gov. Mike Dunleavy (42%) led the rest of the pack by a sizable margin. Dunleavy, and will qualify for the general election, along with former Democratic State Rep. Les Gara (22%) and former Independent Governor Bill Walker (22%). The fourth candidate is still unclear.

Wyoming Secretary of State: State Rep. Chuck Gray (49%), who initially challenged Cheney but moved up to the secretary of state race and won Trump’s endorsement, won the GOP primary. He previously said the 2020 election was stolen.

Alaska At-Large Special: Only 67% of the expected votes are so far, but Peltola (38%), the Democrat, is in the lead, Palin (32%) and Begich (29%) not far behind. The winner will be determined by a ranking vote later this month.

Alaska At-Large: The candidates vying for a full term in Congress are fixed, however. In the primary so far, Peltola (35%) has again led the pack, followed by Palin (31%) and Begich (27%). Republican Tara Sweeney (4%), an Alaska Native woman who served as Assistant Secretary of Indian Affairs and Young’s campaign co-chair, took fourth place.

Wyoming At-Large: With 99% of the expected votes, Hageman (66%) easily beat Cheney (29%).

Remarks on Hageman’s victory, according to NBC’s Megan Lebowitz: “Right now, we have the most dangerous and destructive administration in the history of the United States. President Biden and the radical Democrats are solely responsible for record inflation, record illegal immigration, record human trafficking, record drug trafficking and record energy costs. The wreckage, the wreckage we see is not accidental, but intentional.

Elsewhere on the campaign trail:

Alaska Senate: Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski said NBC’s Ali Vitali on Tuesdaybefore the polls close, that if the GOP decides to “be the party of one individual,” it “will leave a lot of Americans behind.”

Iowa Senate: Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley has earmarked about $1.8 million in ad buys starting in late September, per AdImpact.

Pennsylvania Senate: Democratic Lieutenant Governor John Fetterman has come out with a new ad in which he says Washington insiders are “lying about me to calm down.”

Governor of Rhode Island: Democratic Gov. Daniel McKee narrowly leads a new Roger Williams/WPRI 12 poll ahead of his gubernatorial primary with 28%, with Secretary of State Nellie Gorbea second with 25% and former CVS leader Helena Foulkes with 14%.

Arizona Secretary of State: CNN reports that Republican nominee for Secretary of State Mark Finchem had a list on his Pinterest account called the “Betrayal Watch List” as well as “pins of photos of Barack Obama alongside images of a man dressed in Nazi attire giving a Nazi salute”.

Indiana-02: Dean Swihart, husband of late Rep. Jackie Walorski, endorses former Walorski staffer Rudy Yakym to succeed him.

New-York-12: Ahead of her member-to-member primary, Democratic Rep. Carolyn Maloney blasted her main rival, Rep. Jerry Nadler, at NY1 by implying that Nadler would not fulfill his term. (Nadler has pledged to serve the full two-year term.)

Ad Watch: GOP group slams Democrats on economy

Democrats may point to their recent string of legislative victories on the trail, but new ads from a major GOP group argue that Democrats have been negligent with the economy.

One Nation, the nonprofit arm of the Senate Leadership Fund, a super PAC aligned with Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, released three new ads this week attacking Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Arizona, Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, DN.V., and Rep. Tim Ryan, D-Ohio.

The ads attack Cortez Masto and Ryan for voting in favor of the US Bailout, a Covid relief bill, last year, arguing that the stimulus drove up inflation. And the ads blame Kelly and Ryan for backing the Democrats’ recent spending bill, saying new corporate taxes will hurt American families.

ICYMI: What else is going on in the world?

President Biden signed the party’s reconciliation package on Tuesday.

First Lady Jill Biden has tested positive for Covid-19.

Facebook tells Politico it will not consider reinstating former President Trump until January, even if it announces he is running for president before then.