Riggs was elected in a CCF sweep in 1943, defeating the Liberal candidate, David Croll.
[3] As an MPP, he served on several Legislative Committees including Printing, Game and Fish, Municipal Law, Education, and Labour.
[5][3] He was again selected as the CCF candidate for the Windsor-Walkerville riding in the 1948 Ontario election,[5] but lost again to Davies.
[2] When John Wheelton resigned as mayor of Windsor in 1969, Riggs replaced him for a period of five months.
Riggs won the job by drawing a queen from a pack of cards, the method used to break the tie.