Please, let this be peak 2018. At least this is the weird side of horrible, injecting some humor into what would otherwise be a campaign against just another white supremacist Republican running for Congress. In this case, it's a guy named Denver Riggleman who of course is a Republican, running for the seat being vacated by Virginia Rep. Tom Garrett who is leaving because being in Congress has exacerbated his drinking problem, which is completely appropriate and good for him.
However, what maybe is not appropriate is being a member of Congress who apparently is in to very fringe erotica. Like very fringe. Like Bigfoot fringe. One would be a little concerned having a member of Congress who believed in Bigfoot's existence. One should be very concerned about having a member of Congress who likes to draw pictures of Bigfoot's genitals and who self-published a book called The Mating Habits of Bigfoot and Why Women Want Him.
Riggleman's foray into fiction was first published in the Cook Political report, noting that he published the book and that his Instagram account, "since set to private, was once peppered with images of what can only be described as Bigfoot-themed erotic art." Since that report, Riggleman's author page on Facebook has also been deleted.
Now some of that "art" from his Instagram isn't private. On Sunday, Leslie Cockburn, the Democrat running for the seat shared the artwork (which is below the fold, not for PG purposes, but because it's kind of huge) in a tweet. "My opponent Denver Riggleman," she wrote, "running mate of Corey Stewart, was caught on camera campaigning with a white supremacist. Now he has been exposed as a devotee of Bigfoot erotica. This is not what we need on Capitol Hill."
Now, Senate and House members don't campaign as "running mates," but Riggleman did appear with Stewart in a campaign event and has refused to deny that he'd campaign with him in the future. That's an issue because Stewart has reportedly endorsed white supremacist candidate Paul Nehlen in Wisconsin. He's also met with the leader of the white supremacist Charlottesville rally—Charlottesville is in the district—and his campaign spokesman has called majority-black American cities "shitholes." All of which is concerning, to say the least.
Riggleman says the whole thing is "absurd" and it was all just a juvenile joke with his old service buddies. It's a very long running joke, then, because back in 2006 Riggleman co-authored another book about the mythical creature: Bigfoot Exterminators Inc. The Partially Cautionary, Mostly True Tale of Monster Hunt 2006. It apparently doesn't have anything to do with sex, though.