Ex-Rep. Riggleman mulls independent run for Va. governor, lt. governor
The former Republican may face Abigail Spanberger. He endorsed her for Congress in Virginia after he split with his party following the January 6th uprising.
Former Republican congressman Denver Riggleman is considering an independent run for Virginia Governor or Lieutenant Governor this year. This could put him in conflict with the lone Democrat running, Abigail Spanberger. He endorsed her two years ago when she ran for Congress.
Riggleman told The Washington Post in an interview on Tuesday that he has formed an exploratory group to consider running for one or both of the two state offices. He was expanding on remarks he made on Bloomberg TV the day before.
Riggleman is an iconoclast. He caucuses with the hard-right Freedom Caucus, but presided over the same-sex marriage of a rural 5th District representative in central Virginia. Riggleman, who is 54, wants to shake up America’s “tribalistic”, two-party system.
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I know nuance in politics isn’t popular anymore. He told The Post that it’s a blunt-force populism, disinformation, emotional entreaties or fears. “I wonder, what if I were a rational person who used facts, data and humor to convey my message?”
In Virginia, independent and third-party campaigns are usually long shots. Riggleman is a former Air Force Intelligence Officer and Defense Consultant who owns both a cybersecurity company and a Nelson County Distillery. He said he will appeal to voters by being a straight shooter who does not follow either party’s platforms. He is in favor of the “right-to work” law that encourages businesses, but he “hates” the power of Dominion Energy – a state-regulated company which once wanted to build a natural gas pipeline on his property.
He takes a “nuanced position” on abortion. He calls late-term abortions barbaric and would support a limit of 15 or 20 weeks unless it is necessary to protect a woman’s health or life. As the father of 3 adult daughters, he said that he would also fight to protect the rights of doctors who perform abortions without fear of prosecution.
He said, “I have the unique ability to [tick] both sides off with facts and truth.”
Riggleman was elected to the 5th District of Colorado in 2018, with Donald Trump as his then-president and a libertarian streak. He called for Planned Parenthood’s defunding, a smaller government and decriminalization of marijuana. Two years later, he lost the GOP nomination to a traditional conservative candidate after officiating the weddings of two men who were campaign volunteers. He was a vocal critic of Trump, and those who claimed falsely that Democrats had stolen the White House or spread disinformation in 2020.
Riggleman was a senior member of the House Committee that investigated the attack on Jan. 6. He has since endorsed a variety of Democrats running against Republican election deniers. These include Spanberger’s reelection bid in 2022 in the 7th District, and Vice President Kamala Harris, who lost her unsuccessful campaign against Trump in 2017.
Riggleman praised Spanberger’s bipartisanship in a TV advertisement two years earlier. Riggleman had worked with the ex-CIA officer on such issues as expanding rural broadband and bonding because of their shared background in antiterrorism.
Riggleman stated in the first frame that this was not your typical political advertisement. “I am a Republican Congressman saying nice words about a Democrat.”
Riggleman says nice things about Spanberger even though he is a possible rival for the Executive Mansion. He said Spanberger has a different perspective as he is not tied to any party.
He told The Post that he had no qualms about approaching either side of the political spectrum and calling them out as crazy or endorsing good policy and rationality. “And it puts me in a powerful position.”
Spanberger’s term ends on Jan. 3. She did not run for reelection in order to be able to run for governor. Since her only rival dropped out of the race in April, she has been the sole Democratic candidate for governor. She could face a Democratic opponent in Rep. Robert C. Scott (who hasn’t ruled it out).
A Spanberger spokesman and a Lt. Governor spokesman declined to comment about Riggleman’s possible bid for governor. Winsome Earle Sears (R) is the only candidate for the GOP nomination to be governor. They want to replace term-limited Governor. Glenn Youngkin (R).
Riggleman is weighing up whether to run for either of the two offices. He said that he has considered the possibility of a conflict of interest arising from his personal business ventures. These include his cybersecurity firm, Riggleman Intelligence & Information Group (RIIG), as well as the distillery he and his wife own.
The only duties of the lieutenant governorship are to preside over the state Senate if the Governor dies or resigns.
Democrats running for the position include: Ghazala Hashmi, state senator from Chesterfield; Babur B. Latif, an eye surgeon in Northern Virginia and the chairman of the Prince William County School Board. State Sen. Aaron R. Rouse is also running (Virginia Beach), former federal prosecutor Victor Salgado and former Richmond mayor Levar M. Stoney.
John Curran, a Navy veteran, is the only Republican candidate who has declared his candidacy, though several others have shown interest.
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