Co-Found of the band Orleans running for Congressional seat.

[Sweet Jane 61]

Veteran artists Bonnie Raitt, Jackson Browne and Graham Nash have put their collective weight behind a candidate for a New York Congressional seat. The trio has signed an email soliciting donations on behalf of John Hall, who is running for Congress as a democrat in the 19th District of upstate New York. Hall is best known in music circles as the co-founder of the band Orleans.

Among others, Hall co-wrote Orleans' two biggest hits -- "Still the One," which reached No. 5 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1975, and "Dance With Me," which topped out at No. 6 a year earlier -- before going solo in 1977. Around that time, he became a figure in the growing anti-nuclear movement and a principal member in Musicians United for Safe Energy (MUSE). He also helped Raitt, Browne and Crosby organize the 1979 No Nukes concerts at New York's Madison Square Garden.

"We think it's fantastic that John has decided to set aside his music career for the time being and dedicate himself to politics for the better of us all," the note from Raitt, Browne and Nash says.

They are encouraging fans to contribute as Hall works to win his party's nomination in a Sept. 12 primary election. Should he win the Democrats' nod, he'll face incumbent Republican Sue Kelly in the Nov. 7 general election.

"Politics has become a millionaire's game, and I am not one," Hall writes on his Web site. "It takes an obscene amount of money to mount a Congressional campaign."