Virginia Republican Congressman Supporting Libertarian Gary Johnson for President

VIRGINIA BEACH, VA — Rep. Scott Rigell (R-Va.) soon will be retiring at the end of his term, so he really had nothing to lose.

Toward that end, the outspoken critic of his party's presidential nominee told the New York Times late last week he plans to vote for Libertarian presidential candidate Gary Johnson.

Rigell, who largely represents Virginia Beach in Virginia's 2nd Congressional District, has been saying for months he would not be supporting Donald Trump, and has urged his fellow Republican lawmakers to do the same.

“When their own conscience is seared by some statement that Trump has made, I have encouraged them to be direct and also, in a timely manner, repudiate what he said,” Rigell told the Times. “People will respect it if you have a reason and you put it out there.”

Rigell supported Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) during the primaries.

The man who's heavily favored to win his vacant seat in the right-leaning district is state Del. Scott Taylor, a former Navy SEAL, who supports Trump's bid.

Even so, that didn't stop Taylor from demanding Trump apologize for critical comments about Khizr Khan, who famously went after Trump during the Democratic National Convention. Khan's son, U.S. soldier Humayun Khan, was killed in Iraq in 2004.

Photo: Rep. Scott Rigell's office