Vernal G. Riffe Jr. (born 1925; died July 31, 1997 in Columbus, Ohio) was an American politician of the Democratic party. Riffe served for many years in the Ohio House of Representatives and was the longest serving speaker of the Ohio House of Representatives in the history of that institution, holding that office for 20 years.

Riffe served as a member of the Ohio House for 36 years, from 1959 to 1995. He became speaker in 1975. It was the adoption of term limits by Ohio voters in 1992 that finally ended his legislative career. Riffe was a champion at raising funds for elections and his departure for the political scene was a blow to the Ohio Democratic Party.

Riffe, a conservative Democrat, ruled the House of Representatives with an iron fist, even bringing Republican members of the House under his sway by threatening to fund the campaigns of their Democratic opponents for re-election.

Riffe, who hailed from the impoverished Appalachian Region of southwestern Ohio fought hard to bring money for development to his corner of the state. Riffe's efforts resulted in the building of Shawnee State University, sometimes referred to as "Vern Riffe State U." He also brought funding to southern Ohio for the building of a major highway, Ohio 32, the "Highway to Nowhere," which starts in the countryside near Athens, Ohio, in the east and winds its way westward across southern Ohio, finally ending in rural Clermont County east of Cincinnati. Nowhere does the highway cross a major population center.

The Vernal Riffe Chair, a professorship in government at Ohio State University is named after him. Ohio State's Department of Biochemistry is housed in the Vernal G. Riffe Building. The Vern Riffe State Office Tower houses many state agencies.

Riffe was buried at Memorial Burial Park in Wheelersburg, Ohio.

Riffe's son, Vernal G. "Skip" Riffe III , is a county commissioner in Scioto County, Ohio.