[U.S. POLITICS - CALIFORNIA] [PEACE & FREEDOM PARTY] HOPKE, Tom

Tom Hopke and Special Friends. Congress '86 Tour - Live Concert - Special Showcase Performance

[Los Angeles: 1986]. Campaign flyer, photocopied recto-only on a sheet of pink copier bond; features a large portrait of the candidate posing with a Fender Stratocaster guitar in front of four unidentified bandmates. Mild edge-creasing; Near Fine.

Relic of the short-lived political career of Los Angeles singer-songwriter Tom Hopke, who ran in California's 23rd District, encompassing portions of Los Angeles and Kern Counties, on the Peace and Freedom Party ticket. Hopke campaigned under the Peace and Freedom banner even though "we don't really agree on a lot of issues – it was just easier to get on the ballot with them" [see L.A. Times, "This Politico Can Write His Own Campaign Song," April 20, 1986]. A Buddhist astrologer who described his musical style as "similar to Tom Petty or John Cougar Mellencamp," Hopke ran on a platform that combined bread-and-butter left-wing talking points, including nuclear disarmament and redistribution of land and property, with some views that would not have played well within his chosen party affiliation, including opposing abortion and favoring capital punishment. The 1986 election was won overwhelmingly by incumbent Anthony Beilenson; Hopke received 1.4% of the vote.

Price: $35.00

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