Liz Cheney Quits Wyoming Senate Race; Cites 'Serious Health Issues' in Family
Liz Cheney announced Monday morning she is dropping out of the Wyoming Senate race. She cited "serious health issues" in her family as the reason, but did not mention the public gay marriage dispute with her lesbian sister that made national news in 2013.
"Serious health issues have recently arisen in our family, and under the circumstances, I have decided to discontinue my campaign. My children and their futures were the motivation for our campaign and their health and well being will always be my overriding priority," the elder daughter of former Vice President Dick Cheney said in a statement on her website.
The Republican further thanked everyone in Wyoming and across the U.S. who had supported her campaign to unseat Wyoming Sen. Mike Enzi.
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"As a mother and a patriot, I know that the work of defending freedom and protecting liberty must continue for each generation. Though this campaign stops today, my commitment to keep fighting with you and your families for the fundamental values that have made this nation and Wyoming great will never stop," Cheney promised.
In late 2013 she got caught up in a public dispute over gay marriage with her younger sister, Mary. After Liz Cheney expressed her support for traditional marriage in an interview on Fox in November, Mary's same-sex partner, Heather Poe, criticized the Senate hopeful on Facebook for her views. Poe's comments were supported by Mary.
"Liz has been a guest in our home, has spent time and shared holidays with our children, and when Mary and I got married in 2012 – she didn't hesitate to tell us how happy she was for us," Poe wrote at the time. "To have her now say she doesn't support our right to marry is offensive to say the least."
Dick Cheney later admitted that he was "surprised" by his daughters' social-media spat on the sensitive subject, saying that he would have preferred it stayed in the family.
"This is an issue we have dealt with privately for many years, and we are pained to see it become public," Dick Cheney and his wife, Lynne, said in a joint statement in December. "Since it has, one thing should be clear. Liz has always believed in the traditional definition of marriage. She has also always treated her sister and her sister's family with love and respect, exactly as she should have done."
