Cheney tops Stefanik in fundraising

Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.), who was removed from her leadership role in the House Republican Conference, outperformed her replacement, Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.), by about $400,000 in fundraising last quarter.

Cheney raised $1.88 million in the second quarter of 2021, running from April to June, after raising more than $1.5 million in the first three months of the year. The fundraising haul set a record for the campaign.

Cheney spokesperson Jeremy Adler confirmed the fundraising numbers to The Hill. They were first reported by Fox News.

Stefanik’s second-quarter fundraising haul came in at $1.467 million.

The fundraising numbers for the two prominent Republicans serve as a look into how Republicans are reacting to Cheney’s ouster from leadership, as well as to the lawmakers’ differing takes on former President Trump and the 2020 election.

Stefanik has emerged as an ally of the former president, while Cheney is one of his most outspoken critics in the GOP.

House Republicans voted to remove the three-term Wyoming lawmaker from her post as House Republican Conference chairwoman in May over her anti-Trump stance.

She was the most senior member of the House GOP to vote to impeach Trump for incitement of an insurrection following the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol.

Two days after her ouster, the caucus voted to elevate Stefanik to Cheney’s old post.

Cheney now has $2.85 million in cash on hand, which nearly doubled her total from the first quarter.

She has raked in approximately $3.5 million in fundraising this year, which already exceeds the $3 million she received in 2020 for her successful reelection campaign.

Stefanik, on the other hand, has $2.101 million cash on hand, according to her campaign.

Cheney is facing a tough reelection campaign in 2022, with a number of Republicans already launching primary bids to replace her.

She is also being watched as a potential candidate for the 2024 presidential election. In April, the congresswoman and daughter of former Vice President Dick Cheney said she is “not ruling anything in or out” when asked if she would ever consider running in the future.

She outright said she “would not” support Trump if he were to run again in 2024 when asked in April.

Minutes after her May ouster, Cheney told reporters that she will “do everything I can to ensure that the former president never again gets anywhere near the Oval Office.”