Rep. Liz Cheney may be the rule rather than the exception.
Recall that Cheney, one of 10 Republican lawmakers who voted to impeach former President Donald Trump, was censured by the Republican Party in her home state of Wyoming, which Trump won last year with 70 percent of the vote.
On Saturday, the Senate acquitted Trump in the impeachment trial after 43 Republicans rejected the Democrats’ case against the 45th president.
Seven GOP senators, however, joined all 50 Democrats in voting to convict.
And GOP organizations in two of those states are applying the Cheney rule.
The Republican Party of Louisiana criticized Sen. Bill Cassidy in a terse, one-sentence statement on Saturday: “The Executive Committee of the Republican Party of Louisiana has unanimously voted to censure Senator Bill Cassidy for his vote cast earlier today to convict former President Donald J. Trump on the impeachment charge.”
Republicans in North Carolina also ripped one of their own, Sen. Richard Burr, on Saturday for his impeachment stance.
State GOP Chairman Michael Whatley said in a statement, “North Carolina Republicans sent Senator Burr to the United States Senate to uphold the Constitution and his vote today to convict in a trial that he declared unconstitutional is shocking and disappointing.”
Trump won handily in Louisiana, beating Democrat Joe Biden by a margin of 59 percent to 40 percent. The outcome in North Carolina was much closer, but Trump still prevailed over Biden by about 75,000 votes.
The other five Republicans who voted for conviction were Sens. Susan Collins of Maine, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Mitt Romney of Utah, Ben Sasse of Nebraska, and Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania.
Only one of the seven, Murkowski, is up for re-election in 2022.
Meanwhile, in the House, at least seven of the 10 Republicans who voted to impeach have already drawn primary challengers.