Liz Cheney battles Trump-backed rival in Wyoming primary race – follow live

Liz Cheney ad calls out opponents’ stance on the ‘Big Lie’

Voters will decide the fates of two high-profile Republicans on Tuesday as primary elections occur in Alaska and Wyoming, two of the reddest states in the country.

In Wyoming, the vice chair of the House select committee investigating January 6, Liz Cheney, faces an effort by Donald Trump to punish her for disloyalty in the form of Harriet Hageman, her former staffer and current top rival.

Ms Cheney is deep underwater in the polls, and could lose tomorrow by more than 20 points by most indications. However, she has one trick up her sleeve: Democrats, who are rallying behind her in an attempt to block another 2020 electon conspiracist from office. Wyoming has closed primaries, but voters can change their registration on the day of voting.

Meanwhile in Alaska, the state’s former governor and right-wing provocateur Sarah Palin is seeking to make a political comeback after resigning her previous office under a cloud of ethics investigations. She trailed a fellow Republican, as well as one Democrat in the race, in a poll measuring her support levels last month. Alaska has ranked-choice voting, meaning that the candidates will have to contend with both Democratic and Republican voters deciding the outcome.

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Vote ‘one, two, three times, whatever’

Rep Marjorie Taylor Greene encouraged supporters to get out to the polls during the November midterms and went one step further during a video address to advocate that they exercise their right to vote “one, two, three times”.

In the video clip, shared online by the left-wing Twitter account PatriotTakes, an account with more than 450,000 followers, the Georgia Republican is seen standing alongside Mallory Staples, who ran to represent Georgia’s 6th Congressional District in the spring but lost in the Republican primary to Rich McCormick.

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Dr Oz mocked for ‘grocery shopping’ campaign ad

A recent attempt by Dr Mehmet Oz to appeal to the average Joe voter is having a second life on social media and the response is likely not going to bolster his likeability in his campaign for Pennsylvania Senate.

In the brief campaign video, shared by the Republican candidate in April before he won the GOP primary, Dr Oz is seen shopping in a Pennsylvania store for a list of grocery items to help his wife, Lisa Oz, make crudité for the evening.

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What to watch in Tuesday’s primaries

Elections in Wyoming and Alaska on Tuesday could relaunch the political career of a former Republican star and effectively end the career of another — at least for now.

Here’s what to look out for:

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Judge says Lindsey Graham must testify in Georgia election probe

A federal judge in South Carolina has ordered Republican Senator Lindsey Graham to testify in the Fulton County, Georgia, probe into the push to overturn former president Donald Trump’s 2020 election loss.

In a 22-page order, US District Judge Leigh Martin May rejected Mr Graham’s motion to quash a subpoena ordering him to give evidence before a special grand jury under the supervision of Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis.

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Pelosi sparks laughter with response to ‘is Trump a crook’

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s response when asked if former President Donald Trump is a crook got the room of reporters laughing during her weekly press conference.

On Friday, Ms Pelosi fielded questions concerning the FBI raid at Mr Trump’s southern Florida estate.

Gustaf Kilander reports on what the speaker of the House said.

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Joe Biden is planning his reelection campaign

One question that has cropped up again and again this election season revolves around someone who isn’t even running: Joe Biden.

Will the 79-year-old Biden run again in 2024? The answer appears to be yes, despite very embarrassing comments suggesting the opposite from prominent congressional Democrats like Sean Patrick Maloney and Jerrold Nadler.

The Independent’s Eric Garcia looks at the latest reporting on Joe Biden’s plans for his next political campaign, which is reportedly set to kick off right after the midterms.

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Liz Cheney and Lisa Murkowski: Two Trump foes with wildly different fortunes

Two women who have stood up against Donald Trump while the vast majority of their party still bends the knee are facing primary challenges on Tuesday. They are likely to see wildly different outcomes.

Liz Cheney is running in Wyoming, one of the reddest states in the country, against Harriet Hageman, who is poised (according to polling) to beat the incumbent congresswoman by as many as 20 points or more.

In Alaska, meanwhile, a popular Lisa Murkowski is poised to coast to another victory in November, putting her back in the US Senate for six years.

Let’s take a look at why these two politicians are on such divergent paths despite their similarities:

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Marjorie Taylor Greene tells fans ‘vote 1, 2, 3, times’

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Murkowski faces more than a dozen challengers in Alaska

Sen Lisa Murkowski is heading in to a gauntlet of primary challengers on Tuesday as voters will decide if she is to be re-nominated to the US Senate. Alaska has a ranked-choice voting system, meaning she will likely face three of her top rivals in November.

Ms Murkowski is a vocal critic of Donald Trump, a rarity in her party, and thus faces a Trump-backed challenger in the form of Kelly Tshibaka, as well as 17 other eager would-be senators.

She is strongly favoured to win reelection, however, due to her continued popularity in the state and the sheer number of competitors who will make it hard for Ms Tshibaka or others to stand out.

Read more in The Independent:

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Sarah Palin leans in to Trump support ahead of primary

As former Gov Sarah Palin tries to reignite her political career with a victory in Tuesday’s US House primary election, the ex-VP candidate is leaning in to her support of Donald Trump, the man who has long attacked her former running mate, John McCain.

Last week, Ms Palin responded to the FBI’s raid of Mr Trump’s home at Mar-a-Lago, baselessly accusing Democrats of weaponising the agency to go after their political enemies. Many Republicans have argued as such as they dodge questions about why Mr Trump was apparently storing classified material at a resort in Florida despite no longer being president.