Denver Riggleman is headed towards a tough general election in November. If he makes it out of the GOP nominating convention first, that is.
After barely scraping together a majority on the fourth ballot of the 2018 Republican nominating convention, Riggleman is now facing open revolt within his own party.
We’ll break it down for you:
- Riggleman has already been censured by one county committee while the GOP district committee debated censuring him too.
- The Republican committee also announced they would hold the nominating convention at the Tree of Life, the home church of Riggleman’s primary challenger, Bob Good. And now, it seems that members of that same committee have all but endorsed Good.
- The National Journal reports that FEC filings show four members of the district committee donated to Good, with no such donations appearing on Riggleman’s filings.
How much trouble is Denver Riggleman in? It sure seems like a lot.
CHECK OUT THE NATIONAL JOURNAL’S FULL TAKE BELOW:
How much trouble is Denver Riggleman in?
By Kirk Bado | February 25, 2020
https://www.nationaljournal.com/s/704934/how-much-trouble-is-denver-riggleman-in?
In his first reelection bid, Rep. Denver Riggleman is walking the fine line between adhering to his more libertarian values and meeting the expectations of a local Republican Party run by strong social conservatives—many of whom support a candidate running to his right.
The freshman Virginian remains defiant. “I’m not much for a purity test or an ideological test,” Riggleman said in a phone interview Tuesday. “Everyone belongs in the Republican Party, and I’m no exception.”
Social conservatives in the Charlottesville and south-central Virginia district have openly revolted against Riggleman after they learned he officiated a gay wedding this summer.
He was censured by the Rappahannock County Republican Committee in September and narrowly missed being censured by his own congressional district committee. Now some of his local Republican peers are backing his primary opponent, Campbell County Supervisor Bob Good, who was “recruited by a number” of people in leadership positions throughout the district, according to Roll Call.
Four members of the 5th District Republican committee have donated to Good in the last several months, according to the Federal Election Commission. Riggleman has not received itemized donations from any of the committee members.
This is not the first time Riggleman has run afoul of his local party. After former Rep. Tom Garrett unexpectedly announced his retirement in June 2018, the district committee scrambled quickly to find a replacement candidate who could take on a serious Democratic challenger. Riggleman secured the party’s nomination on a chaotic fourth-ballot vote over the more conservative Cynthia Dunbar.
Riggleman went on to win the general election, 53-47 percent, defeating Democrat Leslie Cockburn, a journalist who also happened to be the mother of actress Olivia Wilde. But local officials have since expressed regret over his stance on LGBT protections and civil rights. With more time to prepare and a less chaotic atmosphere, the committee wants more control over the process, Riggleman said.
The committee elected to use a nominating convention over a more open firehouse primary in November. A primary would operate at several different polling locations in each locality, which in theory would allow more Republicans to vote. On the other hand, a nominating convention is more limited and would take place at one location, requiring voters to stay for hours on end and rewarding party loyalists, much like caucuses.
The nominating convention, scheduled for April 25, will be held at Tree of Life Church, Good’s home church, giving the primary challenger another advantage.
Riggleman framed the controversy as that of a political outsider battling an entrenched establishment. He said the “literal smoke-filled room” process is one of the reasons Democrats have been so successful in Virginia in recent years.
“There’s a reason the Democratic Party controls Virginia right now, and it’s because we have a process like this that takes away individual liberties,” Riggleman said.
But even with the local controversy, national Republican groups are still confident Riggleman will be the nominee. He’s secured key endorsements from President Trump and Good’s former boss, influential Liberty University President Jerry Falwell Jr. One Republican national consultant dismissed any hint of trouble for Riggleman, saying that an endorsement from Trump is the only game in town for competitive GOP primaries.
Even as he claims that establishment Republicans are stacking the deck against him, the freshman has a significant fundraising advantage over the field and he’s already called his shot. Riggleman reported $183,000 cash on hand at the end of December 2019, more than double Good’s haul.
“It’s déjà vu all over again,” Riggleman said. “And I beat them last time, and I don’t plan on losing now.”
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