An Army veteran, having served as a Military Police officer, Riggs worked as a police officer and deputy sheriff in
Santa Barbara, California, and
Sonoma County, respectively. He was a member of the
Windsor Unified School District Board of Trustees from 1984 to 1988 and was a real estate executive and owner of his own development company for over 20 years. He served as CEO of ABS School Services of Phoenix, which provides financial accounting and business management services to approximately 200 school district charter, private, and federal grant schools. Riggs was also the founding board president for Arizona Connections Academy, a statewide on-line charter school. He resided in
Scottsdale, Arizona for 14 years.
California congressman (speaking) and
John Boehner in 1991.|upright=1|thumb Riggs was elected to the
United States House of Representatives as a Republican in 1990 from California's 1st District, narrowly defeating four-term
Democrat Doug Bosco. He represented the area stretching from
Napa County to the northern Pacific coast. He served in the 102nd, 104th, and 105th Congresses. During his service, he was on the
House Appropriations Committee (including the Agriculture and the Energy and Water Development Subcommittees), the House Transportation and Public Works Committee, and the House Banking and Financial Affairs Committee. Riggs also served on the House Education and Workforce Committee and chaired the Subcommittee on Early Childhood, Youth and Families in the 105th Congress. In that capacity, he authored the Charter School Expansion Act (signed into law by President
Bill Clinton in October, 1998) which provides federal start-up grants to newly formed charter schools to help defray their initial operating expenses. Most Arizona charter schools have received federal start-up grants as a result of Riggs's legislation. Riggs voted against the
Gulf War resolution and, as a member of the
Gang of Seven, a group of freshman Republican congressmen, favored identifying publicly the congressmen who made overdrafts at the
House Bank. He was defeated in 1992 by Democrat
Dan Hamburg but won a rematch in 1994. In 1996, he won re-election over Democrat
Michela Alioto-Pier by about four percentage points.
California U.S. Senate campaign In 1998, Riggs faced a potentially competitive contest against State Senator
Mike Thompson, who was due to be
termed out of his seat. Thompson's state senate district was virtually coextensive with the congressional district. Riggs decided not to run for re-election. Instead, he 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, who went on to lose the general election to
Barbara Boxer, seeking her second term in the Senate. Meanwhile, Thompson easily won the congressional race.
Arizona campaigns , 2018. 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, he discovered that he had to be a five-year resident of Arizona in order to run for governor. In
2014, he unsuccessfully sought the Republican nomination for
Governor of Arizona, finishing last in the Republican primary with less than five percent of the vote. In
2016, Riggs created an exploratory candidacy for the
Arizona Corporation Commission, but ultimately did not run for the position.
Arizona Superintendent of Public Instruction campaign In the
2018 Arizona Republican primary election, Riggs ran for state Superintendent of Public Instruction against college professor Dr. Bob Branch, incumbent
Diane Douglas, former Basis Charter Schools Director of Charter School Development Jonathan Gelbart, and former public school teacher Tracy Livingston. A week after the election in which Riggs traded the lead with Dr. Branch several times, Riggs came out ahead by only 249 votes. However, he lost the race to Democrat
Kathy Hoffman in the November 6, 2018, general election. ==Death==