Cheney's loss may be the second worst for a House incumbent in 60 years

Assuming the Wyoming result margin stands, South Carolina Republican Bob Inglis would then be the only House incumbent in the last 60 years to lose by a wider margin than Cheney. He lost by 41 points in a 2010 primary runoff to Trey Gowdy.

The Inglis comparison to Cheney’s loss is notable for two reasons.

The first is that Inglis’ lopsided defeat occurred in a runoff, with only about 77,000 people voting. That was down from the about 87,000 who voted in the first round for the upstate South Carolina seat and far less than the roughly 217,000 who voted in the fall election in that district.

Cheney can’t blame low turnout for her historic defeat. About 170,000 votes have been counted in Wyoming as of Wednesday afternoon. That’s not too far off from the approximately 201,000 Wyomingites who voted in the last midterm general election. Cheney’s loss was no fluke.

The second reason the comparison is notable is that Inglis had alienated the Republican base by opposing the 2007 Iraq troop surge, voting for the so-called bank bailout in 2008 and believing in man-made climate change.