Rep.-elect Morgan Griffith ... on his way to Congress

WYTHEVILLE, Va. — He was wed in a graveyard, is allergic to nearly everything, and vacationed in the caves and jungles of Myanmar, studying bats. His favorite beverage is an obscure, high-caffeine citrus soda called Dr. Enuf.

In January, when Congressman-elect Morgan Griffith joins the huge Republican freshman class that ended four years of Democratic rule in the U.S. House, Capitol Hill will take on an earnest, quirky small-town lawyer who is a wonkish fanatic about parliamentary protocol and who laughs off his own nerdiness.

"I do know I'm a little nerdy, and that's just who I am," said Griffith, 52, a legislator since he won his Virginia House of Delegates seat from Salem in 1993.

In-depth article by AP political writer Bob Lewis on the newest Virginia congressman, Morgan Griffith, heading to D.C.