Okay: Olivia Wilde, Bigfoot, and a democratic congressional candidate all walk into a bar. That's not exactly what happened Tuesday night during the 2018 midterm elections, but it could have been. Leslie Cockburn, democratic congressional candidate running in Virginia's 5th district, lost the race to Denver Riggleman, a Republican, one crushing loss among a number of exciting democratic wins (particularly for women of color). Cockburn once accused Riggleman of authoring erotic literature about Bigfoot. Cockburn also happens to be mom to Olivia Wilde, the actress who once appeared on The O.C. as Mischa Barton's rebellious lover. (She's done other things, but still! She had an iconic lewk.)
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The Bigfoot erotica charge is somewhat dubious. In July, Cockburn tweeted evidence that Riggleman had published a book about why women want Bigfoot, the legendary monster of the Pacific Northwest. Cockburn's evidence was an Instagram post regarding a book called The Mating Habits of Bigfoot and Why Women Want Him on Riggleman's feed. Subsequently, journalists dug up a Facebook author page for Riggleman that was associated with The Mating Habits of Bigfoot which has since been deleted. Riggleman has insisted that the erotica is just the result of a prank from his military friends.
My opponent Denver Riggleman, running mate of Corey Stewart, was caught on camera campaigning with a white supremacist. Now he has been exposed as a devotee of Bigfoot erotica. This is not what we need on Capitol Hill. pic.twitter.com/0eBvxFd6sG
— Leslie Cockburn (@LeslieCockburn) July 29, 2018
Okay, but Riggleman has written about Bigfoot. He self-published a book entitled Bigfoot Exterminators, Inc.: The Partially Cautionary, Mostly True Tale of Monster Hunt 2006. Because it is self-published, it is hard to find — much like Bigfoot himself. For those curious, this thread has some curious and illuminating excerpts. (These excerpts contain mentions of the following: monkey buttcracks, boners, Bigfoot's balls, and the DOD.)
Tuesday evening, Riggleman defeated Cockburn with 53% of the votes. Wilde, who has been campaigning for her mother in Virginia, mourned the loss on social media by thanking the people who worked on the campaign. In her concession speech, Cockburn did not bring up the erotica.
"Yes, we're gerrymandered, but there is a future for all of us here in as one unit, so keep building!" Cockburn told her supporters. We have nothing but respect for a woman who resists the urge to make a Bigfoot joke in the wee hours of election eve.