Riggleman beats Cockburn in 5th, Wittman holds onto the 1st

By James Ivancic and Karen Chaffraix, Times Staff Writers

Republican Denver Riggleman defeated Democrat Leslie Cockburn in the race for the open 5th District seat in the U.S. House of Representatives, while incumbent Rep. Rob Wittman held his 1st District seat against Democratic challenger Vangie Williams.

The 5th District includes most of Fauquier County while the 1st District includes the Fauquier precincts of Lois, Catlett, Morrisville and Bealeton.

Riggleman carried Fauquier as well as Cockburn’s home county of Rappahannock in unofficial results Tuesday.

Riggleman said he was “very grateful and humbled” by his win.

“These five months have been the most awful and incredible” since he became the Republican nominee, he said.

White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders made a campaign stop in Warrenton Friday, Nov. 2 in support of Denver Riggleman, the GOP nominee for the 5th District congressional seat.

Times staff photo/Chris Six

“Their camp never quit,” he said of the Cockburn campaign. “They went all in and I can respect a campaign that goes all in.”

Riggleman won the district with 54 percent of the vote to Cockburn’s 46 percent. In Fauquier County, he garnered 57 percent of the vote to Cockburn’s 42 percent.

Riggleman said he believes the fact that he “works here, lives here and plays here” resonated with voters who saw him as a “radical, commonsense guy.”

Riggleman, 48, served in the Air Force and previously had a government contracting business before opening a distillery in Nelson County with his wife.

Riggleman touted his business experience, military service and lifelong residency in Virginia (He was born inManassas). Less government is better, in Riggleman’s view, a belief that led him to deride his opponent’s expansionist position on health-care insurance as costly and unwise.

Rep. Rob Wittman

Cockburn, an investigative journalist, advocated for Medicare-for-all to allow people under the age of 65 to buy into the public health-care option and for efforts to protect the environment from the impact of climate warming, pipelines and uranium mining. She spent about a year and a half traveling the district talking to people.

Both had high-profile supporters campaigning for them. White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders was the special guest at a rally in Warrenton on the Friday before the election. Riggleman also received the endorsements of President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence.

Cockburn was endorsed by U.S. Sen. Tim Kaine and U.S. Sen. Mark Warner, plus former U.S. Sen. John Warner, a Republican. Her daughter, actress Olivia Wilde, campaigned for her mother.

Leslie Cockburn, Democratic congressional candidate for the 5th District, met with potential voters Thursday, Nov. 1 at a “Party Before the Polls” event at Happy Creek Coffee & Tea in The Plains. She was joined by Ronnie Ross, left, who is running for the Democratic Party nomination in 2019 for the 27th District state senate seat now held by Sen. Jill Vogel.

TIMES STAFF PHOTO/CHRIS SIX

Turnout strong in Fauquier, Prince William

Voting in Fauquier was heavy, as was the case in Prince William County. A total of 1,000 people had voted in Marshall as of 1 p.m. Marshall is within the 5th District.

Connie Chintall, in charge of The Plains precinct, where voters cast ballots at Grace Episcopal Church, said that 850 people had voted as of about 12:30 p.m.

Chintall said there were 33 people waiting when the polls opened.

Bob Zwick, vice chairman of the Fauquier County Electoral Board, said problems on election day at the polls were “run of the mill – running out of [“I voted”] stickers, we had to send more ballots because there were more people voting. There were hiccups, but nothing that has caused Alex to resign to move to the islands,” he said of Alex Ables, the county registrar.

Wittman wins a seventh term

Wittman claimed victory with 56 percent of the vote and earned his seventh term. Williams finished with 43 percent, with 95 percent of precincts counted.

In a statement, Wittman said he’ll continue his work supporting veterans, improving education, providing seniors with a secure retirement and ensuring constituents have access to a health care system that offers quality and choice.

Williams was vying to be the first black woman to represent Virginia in the U.S. House of Representatives. She spoke optimistically of her chances during stops at the polls.