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Home | Office Holder | Frank Riggs
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Riggs was born in Louisville, Kentucky, and he served in the United States Army from 1972 to 1975. Riggs worked as a police officer and in real estate. He was elected to the United States House of Representatives as a Republican in 1990 from California's 1st District, representing the area stretching from Napa County to the northern Pacific coast. Riggs voted against the Gulf War resolution and, as a member of the Gang of Seven, a group of newly-minted, idealistic congressmen, favored identifying publicly the congressmen who made overdrafts at the House Bank. Riggs was defeated in 1992 by Daniel Hamburg, but won a rematch in 1994. In 1996, Riggs won re-election in a campaign that generated controversy after he used the example of Polly Klaas while attacking his opponent's anti-death penalty stance. During his tenure as congressman, fraud and conspiracy civil-lawsuit charges were filed in Sonoma County Superior Court against a partnership which included Mr. Riggs, regarding a 37 acre parcel of land referred to as Haystack Landing. In 1998, State Senator Mike Thompson, forced by term limits to retire from his legislative post, decided to run for the 1st District House seat, and it was generally thought that Riggs could not win reelection against Thompson, who ended up being elected to the seat. Riggs instead ran for the Republican nomination for the United States Senate. A late entrant, he dropped out of the race before election day but still finished in fifth place (the fourth place Republican) in the state's open primary system. The nomination was won by State Treasurer Matt Fong. In 2001, Riggs moved to Arizona. In 2005, he explored a run for governor, as most Arizona Republicans were deciding not to challenge popular Governor Janet Napolitano for reelection the following year. However, Riggs discovered that he had to be a five-year resident of Arizona in order to run for governor. |
