Susan Wright, Jake Ellzey call ousted Liz Cheney a distraction from GOP’s message

Two Republicans vying for a North Texas congressional seat in an upcoming runoff agree that Liz Cheney was a “distraction” who needed to be removed from her House leadership role.

Cheney’s fellow House Republicans voted to remove her as House GOP Conference chair Wednesday during a closed door meeting. Cheney has publicly rebuked former President Donald Trump’s false claims that the election was stolen and has linked Trump to inciting the U.S. Capitol riot on Jan. 6, pitting her against many members of her party.

Wright, the wife of late U.S. Rep. Ron Wright, and State Rep. Jake Ellzey are vying to fill Texas’ 6th Congressional District seat in a July 27 runoff after advancing from the May 1 special election as the top two vote-getters.

Wright, in a statement, said Republicans need to be focused on “taking back the House in 2022 and fighting against Speaker Pelosi and President Biden’s radical socialist agenda.”

“The role of Conference Chair is disciplined, unified (conservative) messaging — and Liz Cheney has been a distraction from that Republican mission,” Wright said in a statement. “In our campaign for TX-06 we know that President Trump’s America First agenda resonates strongly with our voters, and I’m confident our next Conference Chair will successfully deliver that message nationwide as we take back the House in 2022.”

Ellzey shared a similar view in an interview with the Star-Telegram. Ellzey said he believes Cheney should have stepped down, but in lieu of that, she needed to be removed.

“I think that in this case the mission to take back the House was the primary mission and it was a distraction that didn’t need to be occurring, and it certainly didn’t need to be occurring in public,” Ellzey said. “So as we move forward, I think that her stepping down or being removed is the proper thing to do. Now we need to put this family feud, close the door behind it again, close ranks and work on taking back the House.”

Trump has been a vocal supporter of Wright, endorsing her as early voting neared its end. Ahead of the election he commended her for being “supportive of our American First Policies.” Trump has also been a vocal opponent of Cheney having a leadership role in the Republican Party.

“Liz Cheney is a warmongering fool who has no business in Republican Party Leadership,” Trump said in a May 5 statement. “We want leaders who believe in the Make America Great Again movement, and prioritize the values of America First.”

In Star-Telegram candidate questionnaires, neither Wright nor Ellzey directly answered a question about whether they believe the 2020 election was fairly conducted. Experts have said there was no evidence of widespread voter fraud and that the election was the most secure in U.S. history.

Wright wrote that, “courts have since found that several states did not fully comply with their own election laws in the 2020 election, and there were hundreds of voters who alleged they experienced or were victims of voter fraud.”

“Congress should appoint an independent commission to determine the full scope of election misconduct,” she said.

Ellzey responded that “hundreds of thousands of Americans and Texans do not feel it was.”

“And as a Representative, it is my duty to ensure we have free and fair elections everyone can have full faith and confidence in,” Ellzey said. “Our democracy is under attack from Russia and we must step vital steps to ensure the integrity of our elections.”

This is a developing story. Check back for updates.