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Liz Cheney, oldest daughter of former Vice President Dick Cheney, is ending her bid to run for Wyoming's U.S. Senate seat, citing health issues in her family. WASHINGTON — Liz Cheney, daughter of former Vice President Dick Cheney, said Monday she is abandoning her effort to unseat Republican incumbent Sen. Mike Enzi of Wyoming. Cheney cited "serious health issues" that "have recently arisen in our family" as the reason for her decision. But her candidacy had raised hackles in the Republican Party and caused a public rift with her sister, Mary, a lesbian, over Liz Cheney's opposition to gay marriage....

First on CNN: Liz Cheney, whose bid to unseat Wyoming Sen. Mike Enzi sparked a round of warfare in the Republican Party and even within her own family, is dropping out of the Senate primary, sources told CNN's John King. Cheney, the eldest daughter of former Vice President Dick Cheney, began telling associates of her decision over the weekend and could make an announcement about the race as early as Monday.

New York (CNN) -- Liz Cheney, whose upstart bid to unseat Wyoming Sen. Mike Enzi sparked a round of warfare in the Republican Party and even within her own family, is dropping out of the Senate primary, sources told CNN late Sunday. Cheney, the eldest daughter of former Vice President Dick Cheney, began telling associates of her decision over the weekend and could make an official announcement about the race as early as Monday.

Former Vice President Dick Cheney took the side of his U.S. Senate candidate daughter Liz in her high-profile spat over gay marriage with lesbian sister Mary, saying Monday that he was "pained" that the family dispute had become so public, Politico reported. Cheney and his wife, Lynne, issued a statement noting that the gay-rights issue was one "we have dealt with privately for many years." "[We] are pained to see it become public," the parents wrote. "Since it has, one thing should be clear. Liz has always believed in the traditional definition of marriage." The parents said Liz Cheney "has...

I’m tempted to call this a clever Cheney family ploy to burnish Liz’s conservative credentials ahead of her primary against Mike Enzi, except … Enzi’s opposed to gay marriage too. It may help her pass a tea-party litmus test but it doesn’t actually gain her anything against the incumbent. On the contrary, all the attention to this subject is likely to remind Wyoming conservatives not only that the Cheney family is notably pro-gay among Republican royalty — Dick Cheney’s other daughter is herself married to a woman — but that Liz herself was widely assumed to be pro-SSM based on...

They were the towheaded sisters who tagged along on campaigns, polite and smiling, as their father rose through Wyoming and then Washington politics to become one of the most powerful men in the country. “We were as close as sisters can be,” recalled Mary Cheney of her relationship with her older sister, Liz. But now, a feud between the two has spilled into public view, involving social media, an angry same-sex spouse, a high-profile election and a father who feels uncomfortably caught between his two children.

he Wyoming GOP primary campaign is already shaping up to be a scorched-earth affair, demonstrating the kind of senator Liz Cheney would likely be. ..... Other Wyoming politicos who’ve tried to stay above the fray have found themselves drawn into the feud, notably Alan Simpson, the former Republican senator known for his crotchety demeanor. The Cheneys and the Simpsons were at a charity gala in Cody, Wyoming, when Lynne Cheney—Liz’s mother, Dick’s wife, and a writer of racy novels—allegedly approached Simpson and told him to “shut your mouth.” Simpson’s daughter-in-law posted about the incident on her Facebook page, and the...

The Wyoming Senate race may just be the most unique contest of the 2014 cycle. It means nothing for control of the Senate. It means everything to the complex web of colliding Republican interests that have quickly turned it into one of the most spirited campaigns in the country. Liz Cheney, shown in 2010. (Cliff Owen/AP) On the surface, the GOP primary contest between Sen. Mike Enzi and challenger Liz Cheney looks like a familiar tale: A Republican incumbent draws a primary opponent and a heated race ensues. We’ve seen this story unfold in Utah, Indiana and Alaska the past...

Mary Cheney, the younger daughter of former Vice President Dick Cheney who married her long-time partner Heather Poe last year, chastised her older sister, a Republican who is running for the Senate, for her opposition to same-sex marriage in a posting on Facebook. Liz Cheney, who is seeking a Senate seat in Wyoming, said on Friday that she was "not pro-gay marriage." "For the record, I love my sister, but she is dead wrong on the issue of marriage," Mary Cheney wrote on Facebook, according to the New York Times. "Freedom means freedom for everyone," she wrote, repeating a phrase...

Wyoming senatorial candidate Liz Cheney definitively stated her opposition to gay marriage on Friday, despite the pro-marriage stance of her father Dick Cheney, and her sister Mary Cheney, who married her partner last year. “I am strongly pro-life and I am not pro-gay marriage,” declared Cheney in a campaign statement. “I believe the issue of marriage must be decided by the states, and by the people in the states, not by judges and not even by legislators, but by the people themselves.” Cheney issued the statement because she felt opponent (and friend of her father’s) Mike Enzi was “distorting her...

The way D.C. political operatives are reacting to the news that Liz Cheney is challenging Sen. Mike Enzi in the Wyoming GOP primary, you’d think the Republican Party had another Sharron Angle on their hands — someone so much more conservative and rhetorically unrestrained than the incumbent or establishment candidate that she wins the primary only to lose a winnable general election race by a wide margin.Well, Cheney is famously unrestrained. But that’s about where the similarities end. Wyoming is so deep red that the winner of the GOP primary will sail through the general, no matter who it is....

It sounds like a small-bore infraction: Liz Cheney, a United States Senate candidate in Wyoming, bought a state fishing license last summer even though she had not lived in the state for a year, as required. But the matter has inflamed her critics in the state, who have already labeled her an interloper and taken issue with her challenge to Senator Michael B. Enzi in next year’s Republican primary. Mr. Enzi is a popular three-term incumbent who is as conservative as Ms. Cheney. “It’s a serious misstep,” said Liz Brimmer, a Republican strategist in Wyoming and former chief of staff...

Nothing focuses the mind of a politician quite like a competitive race. In the wake of Liz Cheney's primary challenge, Wyoming Sen. Mike Enzi has now taken a hard-line on funding ObamaCare. He has joined the efforts led by Sens. Lee, Cruz and Paul to strip funding to implement the health care law out of any measure to fund the government. “U.S. Senator Mike Enzi, R-Wyo., will not support a continuing resolution that funds further implementation or enforcement of Obamacare,” his office explained in a statement highlighting his support of the defunding effort. Behold the primary challenge effect. Enzi was...

There are few policy differences between Wyoming Republican Senate candidate Liz Cheney and the incumbent she's trying to oust in 2014, Sen. Mike Enzi. Except for one issue: Gay marriage. Unlike Enzi, the 46-year-old daughter of former Vice President Dick Cheney supports the right for states to legalize gay marriage. At least that's what she said in 2009, in an interview with MSNBC, of all places. At that was a time when the notion of same-sex marriage had considerably less support.

Yet another reason to find the Enzi/Cheney race fascinating. Tough call here for Maverick. Does he strike a blow for incumbency by backing his pal Mike, even though it means siding with “wacko bird” nemesis, Rand Paul? Or does he strike a blow for interventionism by endorsing the tea-party favorite Cheney? Here’s the answer, via the Corner. McCain endorsing anyone named “Cheney” at this point was a long shot, incumbent opponent or no. He’s been at odds with Dick sporadically for at least 10 years, dating back to the Bush tax cuts, then to the debate over enhanced interrogation, and...

In the latest poll out regarding the Wyoming GOP primary for senate, incumbent Senator Mike Enzi holds a strong lead over challenger Liz Cheney. After announcing she would run for the Republican nomination in the 2014 Wyoming senate race, many Republicans had opinions of the choice. But in the latest poll out of Wyoming, Mike Enzi leads the former VP’s daughter by over 30 points. If the race were held today 55 percent said they would support Senator Enzi, whereas only 21 percent support Cheney’s efforts. Just over three-quarters of the state’s voters view Enzi favorably, compared with just 6...

Full results at the link. He's up by 34 points.

CHEYENNE, Wyo. — U.S. Sen. Mike Enzi said Thursday he will continue to do what he believes is right, even if it's not popular, as he faces a Republican primary challenge from Liz Cheney. Enzi has kept a low profile since the daughter of the former vice president announced her campaign Tuesday. In a news release Thursday, Enzi said many people have been calling and emailing to offer their support. He said his focus remains on the job he was elected to do. "When the time comes, I am confident the people of Wyoming will vote for my results, dedication,...

Rand Paul is formally endorsing Sen. Mike Enzi as he faces Liz Cheney in a Wyoming GOP primary next year, Paul told POLITICO in an interview Wednesday. “I’ve told him I’ll do anything I can to help him,” the Kentucky GOP senator said. “In fact, somebody asked me today if they could use my name, and I said I’d be happy to sign on and do a fundraiser for him.” Paul said he isn’t sure why Cheney decided to challenge Enzi, but said she might end up picking up some grudges for doing so. “I don’t think it probably will...

Sen. Mike Enzi (R-Wyo.) has kept one of the lowest profiles of any U.S. senator, rarely seen on cable news shows or quoted in media coverage. That’s about to change, in a big way, after Liz Cheney’s announcement Tuesday that she’s challenging him next year in a GOP primary that promises to be one of the most talked about of the election cycle. Enzi, a three-term senator, expressed disappointment and feelings of betrayal over Cheney’s move. “I thought we were friends,” he said. Cheney, 46, has highlighted her youth as a potential advantage against Enzi. However, Enzi, 69, has maintained...