Hamburg was elected to the 1st Congressional District of California in 1992, beating incumbent Frank Riggs. While in Congress he was named one of People magazine's "sexiest people on the Hill" and as one of People's "50 Most Beautiful People" in 1993.
In 1994, a national backlash against Democrats helped Riggs to defeat Hamburg in a rematch. Hamburg became a member of the Green Party; in 1998 he ran for California governor as a Green. Hamburg was the first Green Party of California candidate for Governor ever, and finished third of seven candidates with 104,117 votes for 1.3% of the total vote. During the 2000 presidential election Hamburg backed Green presidential candidate Ralph Nader.
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