'Bigfoot erotica' is at the center of a pivotal Congressional race

• Democratic congressional candidate Leslie Cockburn accused her opponent Denver Riggleman of being "a devotee of Bigfoot erotica."
• The accusation is based on an Instagram post Riggleman made of a draft for the cover of his book "Mating Habits of Bigfoot and Why Women Want Him."
• It features an illustration of Bigfoot with a black "censor" bar over his genitals.
• Riggleman also has ties to white supremacists.
• Democrats are hoping to flip the Virginia seat to take over the House of Representatives in November.

A race for the House of Representatives in a hotly contested Virginia seat has been thrown into chaos after the Republican candidate, Denver Riggleman, was forced to fend off accusations that he loves Bigfoot porn.

Leslie Cockburn, Riggleman's Democratic opponent in Virginia's 5th congressional district, posted a screenshot of what appears to be an Instagram post from Riggleman. It depicts an illustration of Bigfoot with a large black "censored" bar where Bigfoot's genitals would be. The image is allegedly a draft of the cover for Riggleman's self-published book on Bigfoot's sexual proclivities, "Mating Habits of Bigfoot and Why Women Want Him."

"Cover art for #matinghabitsofbigfoot almost complete. I hide nothing in this magnificent tome," he wrote in the caption. "Don’t erase the censor box…"

Cockburn — an investigative journalist and filmmaker — accused Riggleman of being "a devotee of Bigfoot erotica."

"My opponent Denver Riggleman, running mate of Corey Stewart, was caught on camera campaigning with a white supremacist," she wrote on Twitter. "Now he has been exposed as a devotee of Bigfoot erotica. This is not what we need on Capitol Hill."

Riggleman — who owns a craft beer distillery and is a former Air Force intelligence officer — has campaigned in the past with Corey Stewart, the Republican senate candidate for Virginia. Stewart is a neo-Confederate and has endorsed Paul Nehlen, a white supremacist and former congressional candidate in Wisconsin. Stewart has also said that white supremacists were not to blame for the violence in Charlottesville 's "Unite the Right" rally in 2017.

The candidate — whose Instagram account is currently private — told The Daily Progress the Instagram posts have nothing to do with Bigfoot erotica, but are based on a joke among his friends from the military.

Riggleman has a history of fascination with Bigfoot. He recently deleted the Facebook page promoting his book about Bigfoot's mating habits, according to the Cook Political Report, and a decade ago also published the book "Bigfoot Exterminators Inc.: The Partially Cautionary, Mostly True Tale of Monster Hunt 2006." 

When Cockburn accused Riggleman of being "a devotee of Bigfoot erotica," Twitter came armed with jokes.

Virginia's 5th congressional district is one of the most dramatically contested seats in the country. Democrats hope to win it in order to flip the House of Representatives in November. Republican Thomas Garrett handily won the seat in 2016, but said he wouldn't run for reelection in 2018 after announcing he was an alcoholic and following several reports that he used his congressional staff for personal errands.

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