First Days in Congress: Speaking with Rep. Denver Riggleman

“I had an old chief master sergeant tell me that when you first enter a job, you should keep your mouth shut for three months…So I have a lot to learn.”

The 5th District of Virginia has a new representative: Republican Denver Riggleman. A former member of the United States Air Force and a local small business owner, Congressman Riggleman looks to fight back against government regulation in favor of transparency and private property rights for all citizens. He joins Merion West and Connor Mustakas to discuss issues facing his district, his stance on American-Israeli relations, and what his priorities are from his very first day in Congress.

Delving into your background, you pride yourself on being a local business owner from the 5th District. You have your own local distillery. Do you remember any specific moment in building and maintaining this company that made you decide to seek office?

The specific moment had to be the pileup of regulatory agencies and the weaponization of regulations against our company. That moment really broke down into two things that happened. Number one, no matter what I did to change laws that handle small business, I would never have lobbyists bigger than the ones fighting against me. The second was fighting for private property rights when they tried to run a pipeline through my property. [Through] fighting both obstacles, I realized I either had to run [for office] or I had to fight. I didn’t have any choice in the matter.

I had never been involved with politics before. It was really a combination of being hammered from both sides and realizing that I was powerless in my own life—and not understanding the extent politics controls your life. So it came down to that “I didn’t get involved with government; it got involved with me.” It was either fight or flight, and I decided to fight.