Liz Cheney shatters campaign cash record, raising $20.5 million

Comes as the Wyoming congresswoman faces a Trump-backed primary challenge

File: Liz Cheney was one of just ten Republicans in the House who voted to impeach Trump (Getty Images)

Representative Liz Cheney broke her own fundraising records when she raised $20.5m in the final three months of 2021, according to numbers first shared withThe Casper Star-Tribune.

The Wyoming Republican raised $1.5m, $1.9m and $1.7m in the first, second and third quarters of 2021, respectively.

The cash haul comes as Ms Cheney emerged as the most vocal critic of former President Donald Trump within her party. She voted to impeach Mr Trump in 2021 for his role in inciting the 6 January riot on Capitol. She also sits on the House’s select committee investigating the riot and is its vice chairwoman.

The daughter of former vice president Dick Cheney, Ms Cheney was the only Republican present at the House of Representatives floor on the one-year anniversary to commemorate the riot. Mr Cheney accompanied her.

In turn, Ms Cheney has become increasingly ostracised within her own party. House Republicans voted to remove her as chairwoman of the House Republican Conference and replaced her with the more Trump-friendly Representative Elise Stefanik of New York.

Other Republicans who voted to impeach Mr Trump – such as representatives John Katko of New York and Anthony Gonzalez of Ohio – announced they would not seek reelection and likely would have faced right-wing challengers.

Representative Adam Kinzinger of Illinois, who also voted to impeach Mr Trump and is the only other Republican to sit on the January 6 select committee, announced he would not seek reelection after Illinois’ new congressional map would have put him in a member-on-member primary.

Ms Cheney will face Harriet Hageman, whom Mr Trump has endorsed, who has raised about $1m since she declared her candidacy, Fox News reported.