Dick Cheney will vote for Kamala Harris, says his daughter

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Former Republican Vice President Dick Cheney will vote for Kamala Harris, his daughter Liz Cheney, a former U.S. representative, said Friday at the Texas Tribune Festival.

Liz Cheney, a Republican from Wyoming, also supported Democrat Colin Allred in his election campaign against Republican U.S. Senator Ted Cruz.

Liz Cheney endorsed Harris earlier this week at Duke University. She is one of Donald Trump's main critics and has called the former Republican unfit for office since the attack on the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021.

“Dick Cheney will vote for Kamala Harris,” she said of her father, who served as vice president under President George W. Bush from 2001 to 2009. “When you think about the situation we're in and how serious that situation is, my father believes – and he's said this publicly – that there has never been a person in our country who poses as great a threat to our democracy as Donald Trump.”

Since losing her seat in the House of Representatives, Liz Cheney has worked to push back election denial within the Republican Party, in some cases supporting Democrats.

“One of the most important things we need to do as a country as we begin to rebuild our politics is to elect serious people,” Liz Cheney said. “Here in Texas, you have a great, serious candidate running for the U.S. Senate.”

The audience interrupted Liz Cheney with loud applause.

“It’s not Ted Cruz,” she said.

She blamed Cruz for leading the effort in the Senate to overturn the election results.

“That's not the person you want to put in a position to do something like that again,” Cheney said.

When he officially endorsed Allred, Cheney recalled that he had briefly worked with the Democrat in Congress.

“You don't have to agree with every policy position, but we need people who will serve in good faith,” she said. “And in this race, that's Colin Allred. And I'm going to campaign for him.”

This is a developing story and will be updated.

As the premier event of the year, the Texas Tribune Festival brings Texans closer to politics, policymaking and breaking news from Texas and beyond. Browse on-demand recordings and catch up on the top headlines from Festival events on the Tribune's Festival News page.