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Denver Riggleman (b. March 17, 1970) is the Republican nominee for United States Congress in Virginia's 5th congressional district. His Democratic opponent is the investigative reporter Leslie Cockburn.

On October 30, 2018, Donald Trump endorsed Denver Riggleman in a tweet.

Biography and political career
After serving in the United States Air Force, Riggleman attended the University of Virginia and started a defense contracting business before establishing Silverback Distillery with his wife Christine in 2014. In 2017, Riggleman ran in the Republican primary for governor, but was unable to raise enough money to compete. He dropped out of the race in March, three months before primary day.

Riggleman became the Congressional nominee in the 5th District in early June 2018, after Representative Tom Garrett, a first-term Republican, announced he would not run for reelection to seek treatment for alcohol abuse. Later that week, a committee of 37 Republican officials narrowly selected Riggleman after he promised to join the very conservative House Freedom Caucus.

"Bigfoot Erotica" controversy
In 2006, Riggleman co-authored (with Don Barone) an ebook called Bigfoot Exterminators Inc.: The Partially Cautionary, Mostly True Tale of Monster Hunt 2006. He also intermittently posted pictures on social media accounts that show Bigfoot with censorship boxes over the creature's genitalia, including on a Facebook author page for a book supposedly called The Mating Habits of Bigfoot and Why Women Want Him. In late July, Cockburn tweeted out several of those images and called Riggleman a "devotee of bigfoot erotica." The accusation gained national and global media attention, including from the Washington Post, New York Times, Guardian, Slate, and Vox. Riggleman argued that the pictures were a result of running jokes with friends from his military service.

Congressional campaign
According to his campaign's latest report to the Federal Elections Commission (FEC), just 20% of individual contributions to Riggleman's campaign came from Virginia residents, while 80% came from non-Virginians. In addition, conservative political action committees (PACs) have paid for hundreds of thousands of dollars in advertisements supporting Riggleman and attacking Cockburn. These include $560,000 from Speaker Paul Ryan's Congressional Leadership Fund, $245,495 from the Club for Growth, and $225,765 from the Republican Jewish Coalition.

In addition, Riggleman's campaign has been supported by at least $380,000 since July in direct contributions from conservative PACs. These include the House Freedom Fund, the PAC arm of the Freedom Caucus, which donated $72,016 to Riggleman; the Club for Growth, which donated over $52,500; and the Supporting Elected American Leaders PAC, run by Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke which is under investigation by the FEC.

Issues
Riggleman describes himself as a "liberty Republican" and has called Tom Garrett's voting record in Congress "pristine." Garrett received national criticism for his votes to repeal the Affordable Care Act while admitting he had not read the legislation.

Health care
Riggleman supports replacing the Affordable Care Act with less-regulated "consumer-driven models" and individual health savings accounts. At a debate with Cockburn, Riggleman said that he does not believe healthcare is a basic human right.

Gun violence
Riggleman has said that he opposes any further forms of gun control. Specifically, he opposes banning "bump stocks," the modification used by the mass shooter in Las Vegas. He also supports allowing citizens to carry concealed handguns without a permit.

Abortion
Riggleman is pro-life and opposes abortion in most cases. He has also stated his opposition to the Equal Rights Amendment to the Constitution, which would make gender equality a Constitutional protection.