Former US vice-president Dick Cheney's daughter Liz drops Senate bid
Liz Cheney, the eldest daughter of former vice-president Dick Cheney, is abandoning her US Senate bid because of "serious health issues" in her family.
Liz Cheney, the eldest daughter of former vice-president Dick Cheney, is abandoning her US Senate bid because of "serious health issues" in her family.
The 47-year-old was involved in a primary challenge against Republican incumbent Senator Mike Enzi of Wyoming.
The western state is solidly Republican, so the primary winner is nearly certain to defeat their Democratic opponent. But Cheney said in a statement: "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."
She did not specify the health concerns. Cheney has consistently trailed Enzi in Wyoming polls, and she never gained significant traction in her campaign. She sparked a bitter family feud in November when she voiced her opposition to gay marriage.
Cheney's younger sister Mary, 44, is a lesbian, and she and her wife Heather Poe took the comments as a personal affront, saying they were being treated as "second-class citizens."
Liz Cheney said she loves her sister and her sister's family "very much", but "this is just an issue on which we disagree".
Dick Cheney served as George W. Bush's vice-president from 2001 to 2009.
