Republican who does not, in fact, like Bigfoot porn wins Virginia district

Republican Denver Riggleman, who once had to clarify — as part of his campaign — that he does not, in fact, like Sasquatch porn, will represent Virginia’s 5th Congressional District.

Riggleman defeated Leslie Cockburn, an investigative journalist who also happens to be actress Olivia Wilde’s mom, by about 9 points Tuesday night. Republicans have held the district for a decade and were expected to win narrowly, the New York Times projected.

Riggleman and Cockburn’s battle for the open seat first exploded into the national consciousness in July, when Cockburn accused Riggleman of being “a devotee of Bigfoot erotica” on Twitter.

“He has been exposed as a devotee of Bigfoot erotica. This is not what we need on Capitol Hill,” Cockburn tweeted, alongside a drawing from Riggleman’s Instagram. She later followed that cryptozoological illustration up with another Instagram image from Riggleman.

Riggleman, however, told VICE News that the illustration arose out of a prank between friends. When he saw Cockburn’s tweet, he said, “We actually thought it was a bit of a joke, because everything about it was a joke.”

Riggleman, a businessman, did help write two books about Bigfoot, “Bigfoot Exterminators Inc.: The Partially Cautionary, Mostly True Tale of Monster Hunt 2006,” and “Mating Habits of Bigfoot and Why Women Want Him.” But neither, he said, were erotica.

Cover image: Denver Riggleman, Republican candidate for Virginia's 5th Congressional district, is interviewed by CQ Roll Call at their D.C. office, June 20, 2018. (Photo by Thomas McKinless/CQ Roll Call). (CQ Roll Call via AP Images)