JUDY WOODRUFF: We return to our ongoing series tracking first-time members of Congress.
The last time we saw freshman Representative Denver Riggleman, he was learning to navigate
the halls of Congress amidst a government shutdown.
Four months into the job, he's now trying to balance life in D.C. with the needs of
his district.
Our Lisa Desjardins is back and caught up with him in his hometown.
REP.
DENVER RIGGLEMAN (R-VA): Let's do this.
LISA DESJARDINS: Eight a.m.
Freshman Congressman Denver Riggleman leaves home for his makeshift operating base during
recess, his family's distillery in Central Virginia.
REP.
DENVER RIGGLEMAN: We have we have back to back-to-back-to-back-to-back-to-back-to-back
meetings from around noon to 3:00.
LISA DESJARDINS: In his first four months, the gregarious Riggleman has found the job
comes with critics on all sides and a relentless schedule each day.
REP.
DENVER RIGGLEMAN: In Congress, this is work.
And I think you just -- this isn't as fun as I thought it would be.
LISA DESJARDINS: Over the next two hours, he has a tuxedo fitting for a black-tie dinner
in Washington, speaks to a crowd at a Vietnam veterans memorial, consoles a constituent,
and, at one point, searches for a phone signal for a radio interview.
REP.
DENVER RIGGLEMAN: Whew.
LISA DESJARDINS: Riggleman, an Air Force vet and businessman, has never served in office
before.
REP.
DENVER RIGGLEMAN: Hey, Joe.
It's Denver.
LISA DESJARDINS: Now the Republican represents a congressional district stretching through
the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains, a place of winding roads and struggling areas
mixed with new wealthy residents and a rising brewery and winery industry.
Riggleman is a conservative, but he speaks about reaching out to Democrats.
That has Republicans questioning his loyalty.
They point to his vote opposing the president's attempt to end the Affordable Care Act in
court.
REP.
DENVER RIGGLEMAN: Oh, I have heard about it.
When I voted that we need to make sure we keep preexisting conditions, I found it interesting
that he said that was his number one priority.
And then people who said,, hey, you know, Denver, you're not supporting the Republican
ticket by voting with this, I said, well, you need to talk to some of the others who
are in Trump districts who voted this way also.
LISA DESJARDINS: His Trump district is active, full of signs on a big local issue.
Personal relationships matter here, as you see at Wood Ridge Farm Brewery in Nelson County,
where locals are divided over how their area is doing.
DEB THOMPSON, Virginia: I think it's probably at the top that it's been in quite a few years.
I think it's doing pretty well.
DANIEL RUTHERFORD, Virginia: The biggest issue that Nelson has is a lot of always finding
employment.
ANTHONY PERRY, Virginia: It looks like the vineyard business is doing really great.
Other parts of the farming industry are not doing too good.
LISA DESJARDINS: For others, the issue is health care, taxes, or the environment.
The district is a challenge, larger in size than the state of New Jersey, with cities
like Charlottesville, but also many rural counties.
In addition, it contains both Republican and Democratic strongholds.
Larry Stopper is a retired lumber salvager and the Democratic Party Chairman in Nelson
County.
He's critical of Riggleman for joining the most conservative group in congress, the Freedom
Caucus.
They vote with the president on issues like immigration reform.
LARRY STOPPER, Chairman, Nelson County Democratic Party: It's hard to think that you're going
to join the Freedom Caucus and represent the 47 percent of the district that voted against
you.
LISA DESJARDINS: Back at his House, Riggleman stresses he is in moderate and conservative
groups alike.
REP.
DENVER RIGGLEMAN: I will meet with anybody.
And I think people are a little bit intimidated by that.
And I think when you see people start screaming about town halls, it's that you want to scream
at me in a public forum, because, when they talk to me personally, they find out I'm a
pretty reasonable guy.
But I am not in any way an ideologue.
LISA DESJARDINS: But Riggleman has to balance his constituents' needs with intense pressure
to fund-raise.
REP.
DENVER RIGGLEMAN: I didn't realize how it worked.
The personal donors, they don't call me at all.
LISA DESJARDINS: The corporate donors?
REP.
DENVER RIGGLEMAN: Oh, yes.
They want meetings, you know?
And that's -- and, listen, that's the transparency thing of this.
They want meetings.
I can give them a meeting, right?
The issue that you have, though, is that they have got to fit their meeting within my constituent
meetings.
LISA DESJARDINS: Back at the brewery, Darcy Baker says she and her neighbors just want
someone to get things done.
DARCY BAKER, Virginia: We all want the same thing for our kids.
We want a good school.
We want to be able to pay our bills.
LISA DESJARDINS: Simple concepts, but brand-new lawmakers like Riggleman know nothing in politics
right now is simple.
For the "PBS NewsHour," I'm Lisa Desjardins in Nelson County, Virginia.