GOP Rep. Liz Cheney Backs Democrats Tim Ryan & Elissa Slotkin In Midterms

Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyoming) announced her support for Democrats Rep. Tim Ryan (Ohio) and Elissa Slotkin (Michigan) on Tuesday. Both are both running against Trump-endorsed Republicans who are election deniers.

Cheney, a vocal critic of former President Donald Trump who co-chairs the House select committee investigating the January 6 Capitol attack, said that a vote for Trump is a “threat to democracy.”

Though Cheney voted in line with most of Trump’s policies during his administration, she has been outcast by her party for voicing her negative view of Trump.

She was handily beaten by challenger Harriet Hageman (R), who is backed by Trump.

Cheney and Slotkin acknowledged their political differences, which they would know well as they sit together on the House Armed Services Committee.

“The truth is that Liz and I differ on lots of substantive policy issues,” Slotkin said. “But there’s one really, really big thing we agree on. That is preserving American democracy, the thing that all of us here and the two of us desperately, desperately love.”

Ryan, a 10-term House Democrat, is facing J.D. Vance, who is known for backing Trump’s claims of a “stolen” election, for retiring Sen. Rob Portman‘s (R-Ohio) seat.

Cheney, who is Republican royalty as the daughter of former Vice President Dick Cheney, said that she may not be done supporting Democrats yet and that she may endorse more before the midterms next week.

She added that she believes this election cycle has not provided enough good candidates for people to vote for and urged more people to run in the future.

“We need to demand excellence among our elected officials,” Cheney said. “We need to demand competence and responsibility, and that means we need more candidates. So making sure that good people run for office, good people stay in office.”