Liz Cheney says she will vote for Kamala Harris in 2024 election

WASHINGTON — Former Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., said Wednesday she will vote for Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris in the November election, arguing former President Donald Trump presents a unique threat to the nation.

"As a conservative, as someone who believes in and cares about the Constitution, I have thought deeply about this," Cheney said in remarks at Duke University's Sanford School of Public Policy. "Because of the danger that Donald Trump poses, not only am I not voting for Donald Trump, but I will be voting for Kamala Harris."

The endorsement marks a major jump politically for Cheney, a Republican congresswoman from 2017 to 2023, whose father Dick Cheney served as the vice president of former President George W. Bush.

"I don't believe that we have the luxury of writing in candidates' names, particularly in swing states," Cheney said of her decision.

More: More than 200 Bush, McCain, Romney alums endorse Harris for president, criticize Trump

Cheney ? a fierce critic of Trump, the Republican nominee, since he left office ? co-chaired the House select committee that investigated Trump's efforts to overturn the 2020 election and the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol.

Cheney voted for Trump over President Joe Biden in the 2020 election ? a vote she later said she regretted.

"The Vice President is proud to have earned Congresswoman Cheney’s vote," Harris campaign chair Jen O'Malley Dillon said in a statement. "She is a patriot who loves this country and puts our democracy and our Constitution first."

O'Malley Dillon said Harris "will be a president for all Americans, regardless of political party," adding that "there is a place for you in the Harris-Walz coalition" for "any American who is looking to reject the chaos and division of Donald Trump, turn the page, and pursue a new way forward."

After becoming a regular target of attacks from the former president, Cheney lost the 2022 Republican primary for her Wyoming congressional seat by more than 32 percentage points to a Trump-backed opponent, Harriet Hageman, who currently represents Wyoming in the House.

House Republicans had already voted to boot Cheney from their No. 3 leadership role as conference chair in 2021. And the same year, the Wyoming Republican Party passed a resolution no longer recognizing Cheney as a member.

Cheney's backing of Harris comes one week after 238 Republicans who previously worked for either Bush, the late Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., or Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, endorsed Harris in an open letter.

The Harris campaign has worked to highlight its backing from Republicans who oppose Trump, launching a "Republicans for Harris" group and featuring Republican speakers at last month's Democratic National Convention in Chicago.

Republicans who addressed the convention included former Rep. Adam Kinzinger, R-Ill., who like Cheney served on the Jan. 6 House panel; former Trump press secretary Stephanie Grisham; former Georgia Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan, Mesa, Ariz. Mayor John Giles; and Olivia Troye, who worked as a homeland security and counterterrorism adviser to former Vice President Mike Pence.

Reach Joey Garrison on X @joeygarrison.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Liz Cheney says she is voting for Kamala Harris in 2024 election