Liz Cheney formally launches bid for U.S. House seat in Wyoming

GILLETTE, Wyo. (AP) — Liz Cheney formally kicked off her congressional campaign Monday with a newspaper interview in a Wyoming city hard-hit by a downturn in coal mining.


Cheney told the Gillette News Record (bit.ly/203hnMz) reversing the Obama administration's energy policies is her main reason for running for Wyoming's lone U.S. House seat. Gillette is a city of 32,000 near open-pit mines that supply almost 40 percent of the nation's coal.

The coal industry has been hard-hit by impending climate-change regulations and especially by low natural gas prices. More utilities are turning to natural gas to generate electricity.

Cheney is the elder daughter of former Vice President Dick Cheney. She has lived in Jackson since 2012 and seeks to replace Rep. Cynthia Lummis, a fellow Republican who plans to retire next year.