Cheney is fighting the perception that she and her family are carpetbaggers in Wyoming. Cheney hubby on 2 states' vote rolls

Liz Cheney’s husband has been registered to vote in both Virginia and Wyoming for the past nine months, even though he signed a document in Wyoming saying he was not registered elsewhere.

Responding to questions from POLITICO, a spokeswoman for the Republican Senate candidate said Phil Perry has notified Virginia authorities to take his name off the rolls but would not say when.


Perry, who continues to practice law in Washington while his wife challenges Sen. Mike Enzi in a Republican primary 2,000 miles west, registered as a Wyoming voter with the Teton County clerk’s office in March.

The county clerk, Sherry Daigle, said new voters are asked if they are registered elsewhere so the office can send a withdrawal request to the other jurisdiction.

“He signed an oath saying he was not currently registered anywhere else,” Daigle said.

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In a voice mail left for a POLITICO reporter late Wednesday night, the county clerk added of Perry: “He must have gotten wind that someone was questioning his registration in both places because he came into my office late yesterday afternoon … and declared that he has been registered in Virginia and requested that we notify them of his registration in Wyoming and withdraw him from the registration roll. So he’s now followed through with what he needed to do to withdraw his registration in Virginia. So, as far as we’re concerned, he’s good to go.”

Liz Cheney is defending herself against the perception that she and her family are carpetbaggers in Wyoming — an effort that could be further complicated by this disclosure.

The candidate, for her part, is no longer registered in Fairfax County. But a search of the voter database at the Office of Elections in Fairfax on Tuesday afternoon showed Perry’s registration remains active at the couple’s home address in the tony D.C. suburb of McLean.

A separate voter file shows Perry cast a Virginia ballot in last year’s presidential election.

Perry, 49, is still based out of the Washington office of the Latham and Watkins law firm. During his father-in-law’s time as vice president, he served as general counsel at the Department of Homeland Security. Before that, he was general counsel at the Office of Management and Budget and the third-ranking official at the Justice Department.

Perry has appeared alongside his wife in commercials and mailings, but he and the Cheney campaign declined to answer questions about how much time he actually spends in the Cowboy State.

“Phil is registered to vote in Wyoming and has notified Virginia that he is registered in Wyoming,” Cheney campaign spokeswoman Brittany Wells said in a two-sentence statement. “He has not voted in Virginia since he registered in Wyoming.”

Wells provided an additional statement on Thursday morning that read: “Phil believed he was no longer registered in VIrginia and did not vote there. When he realized he was still on the Virginia rolls, he immediately corrected that.”

Cheney’s father, Dick Cheney, last represented Wyoming in the House in the 1980s.

Liz Cheney, 47, was fined $220 this August for purchasing an in-state fishing license when she was not yet eligible. She received the license just 72 days after closing on her home, but the law requires 365 days of residency. The local press reported that she signed an application claiming she was a 10-year resident, which she denied.

The first election in which Perry will be able to cast a ballot as a Wyoming voter iwill be the Aug. 19 GOP primary in which his wife is a candidate.

The campaign’s first TV ad, which aimed to highlight Liz Cheney’s roots in the state, showed the candidate and Perry walking a dog together and hanging out with their kids in a kitchen.

“Twenty years ago, Phil and I were married here in Wyoming,” Cheney said in the commercial, “and today we’re raising our kids here on the same Wyoming values I grew up with.”