Politics

Republicans Pick New Candidate For VA District Vacated By Tom Garrett

REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque

Mike Brest Reporter
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Virginia Republicans selected a candidate to replace Rep. Tom Garrett on Saturday after he announced he was not running for re-election last month.

The 5th Congressional District Republican Committee selected distillery owner Denver Riggleman as the nominee.

Riggleman was an Air Force intelligence officer, a consultant for the Department of Defense, and is currently the owner of Silverback Distillery. Riggleman also briefly campaigned for governor of Virginia in 2017.

The 37-member committee went through multiple rounds of balloting to narrow the race to Riggleman and Cynthia Dunbar. Dunbar previously tried to get the GOP nomination in a different Virginia district last month.

Riggleman will be going up against Democrat Leslie Cockburn in the general election.


Rep. Garrett announced that he would not run for another term after acknowledging he needs help for alcoholism on May 28. (RELATED: Congressman Won’t Seek Reelection After Revealing He’s An Alcoholic)

There were also rumors that he made inappropriate requests of his aides, asking them to do things such as pick up his groceries and clean up his after his dog.