If you read the information on the state of Wyoming’s website, you’ll find their state gemstone is jade, their state fish is the Cutthroat Trout, and their state reptile is the Horned Toad. Wyoming’s state sport is rodeo and the official state code is the Code of the West.

2014 may be the year that the state sport is watching a Republican senate primary. The Code of the West may take a back seat during this primary season.

Republicans rule Wyoming. Their two Republican senators (Mike Enzi and John Barrasso) won their last elections with about 75% of the vote. Wyoming’s lone House member, Cynthia M. Lummis, won her last election with about 69% of the vote (it was a five-way race). The Governor, Matt Mead, easily won his last race with 72% of the vote.

It appears from the last few elections the citizens of Wyoming are pretty happy with their elected officials. Apparently Liz Cheney, the daughter of former Vice President Dick Cheney, thinks things can be better.On Tuesday Cheney announced that she was running for the U.S. Senate which will pit her against Enzi next year. Enzi announced earlier in the day that he was running for a fourth term. According to a Tweet from ABC News Senior Washington Correspondent Jeff Zeleny, Enzi said, “She said that if I ran, she wasn’t going to run…I thought we were friends.”

There are no friends in politics, Senator Enzi.

During her announcement Cheney slammed Enzi saying, “Wyoming needs a strong voice in Washington, someone who knows how to get things done and isn’t afraid to fight for what’s right. I will never compromise when our freedom is at stake.” She also said, “Instead of cutting deals with the president’s liberal allies, we should be opposing them, every step of the way.” You can watch her announcement video HERE.  The part where she called herself a “Patriot” was really interesting…

In Montana Republican terminology, Enzi would probably be called a “Responsible Republican” or the ultra-conservatives in the Party would call him a “Progressive Republican.” That is probably why he is getting a primary challenge from Cheney. All we need now are some dark money postcards…

Enzi is pretty freaking conservative himself. According to data from Project Vote Smart, Enzi has a lifetime conservative rating of 93% from the American Conservative Union. National Journal gives Enzi a composite conservative lifetime score of 90%. He won his last two elections with 73% of the vote in 2002 and with 76% of the vote in 2008.

You don’t really need to go too far to see what is wrong with the Republican Party these days…

Follow me on Twitter @TheWesternWord

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