Hank Linderman

Hank Linderman was born in Florida.[1] Linderman's career experience includes working as a musician.[1][2]

Hank Linderman did not complete [the profile publisher]'s 2026 Candidate Connection survey.

Hank Linderman did not complete [the profile publisher]'s 2024 Candidate Connection survey.

Campaign website

Linderman's campaign website stated the following:

Contract For Rural And Working America: Issues That Matter to Kentucky and Our Nation

- Restoring Health Care

- Living Wage For All Working Kentuckians

- Education and Child Care

- Support for Small Subsistence and Family Farms

- Infrastructure and Supply Chain

Inequality In America

Almost every problem America faces has its roots in inequality; social and economic. Addressing inequality is critical if we are to make any headway in the fields of health care, employment and the future of work, education, and even dealing with climate change.

Equality is the American ideal; "With liberty and justice for all." So it is important to understand that we cannot succeed as a Nation without confronting social and economic inequality head on.

This means, that we must strive for equal rights, no matter your race, gender, age, or any other physical description. It means we must strive for equal opportunity no matter your family's net worth. It means, improving schooling, improving our social safety net, and investing in our people as an investment in our Nation. And, it means redefining the role of our Nation's police, re-examining the goals and the means of policing. We need to find ways to include more direct community involvement in policing, and raising the standards for entry for recruits. We must see a reduction in the unnecessary use of violence, particularly against black Americans.

Our economy needs work as well. We can no longer accept the concept of "Trickle Down" without a comparable and perhaps even more robust application of "Trickle UP." The leaves of our national tree have been getting plenty of sunshine and water; it is time to pay attention to the roots. To the very wealthy in America, I have good news: your lives will be better if the rest of us are healthier, better educated, and a little better off.

We will strive for balance. This is one of the most difficult goals toachieve - it is a moving target, and the instant we find balance, things are already shifting. It is a job that is never finished.

And yet, it is a job that must be done. We must put in the effort now, to plant seeds for trees we may never see, to build an America that works for all of us. Our Nation, and our world, depend on us.

NøPE

No Plastics In my Environmemt

We all use too much single-use plastic, and often we don't have a lot of choice in the matter. For example, if you order a cup of coffee on a flight, it can arrive with a single-use plastic lid and stirrer. Wearing a NøPE button lets your flight attendant know you don't want any single-use plastic. If you go to a coffee shop wearing a NøPE button, the server at the counter knows you want a ceramic cup or a paper cup with no plastic lid. At restaurants, your NøPE button means you want cardboard go boxes, that you don't want a plastic straw, that you want to do what you can to eliminate single-use plastics.

NøPE means "No Plastics in my Environment". It can also mean you want your school or other organization to divest themselves of petroleum based investments. It means you want to preserve the Earth for future generations.

It may take some time to achieve these goals, but raising awareness is the place to start. Every time someone notices your NoPE button, you have made a tiny difference. These tiny differences will add up over time and lead to minds and actions being changed.

We came up with NøPE as part of our campaign for Congress in Kentucky's 2nd District - that's why our campaign is a small part of the NøPE button. If you want to use the artwork we have created for your organization or political campaign, please feel free to use our artwork to order your own buttons, you are free to replace our campaign info with yours. We reserve the right to withdraw this permission if your organization is trying to undermine the elimination of single-use plastics.

[3]

—Hank Linderman's campaign website (2024)[4]

Who are you? Tell us about yourself.

Musician, recording engineer, Kentuckian. Current chair of the Rural Council to the Kentucky Democratic Party.

Please list below 3 key messages of your campaign. What are the main points you want voters to remember about your goals for your time in office?

Neither of our parties is doing a very good job for the people.I am running to encourage needed changes inside the Democratic Party: to reconnect with people who work, and to come back to rural and small-town America.I'm a pragmatic populist progressive, willing to collaborate to solve problems.

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

Health care, governmental corruption, environment, inequality (social and economic)

Is there a book, essay, film, or something else you would recommend to someone who wants to understand your political philosophy?

"Listen, Liberal" by Thomas Frank

What characteristics or principles are most important for an elected official?

To be willing to work for the good of the community at large.

What qualities do you possess that you believe would make you a successful officeholder?

Empathy

What legacy would you like to leave?

Reconnecting our government to the people.

What was the last song that got stuck in your head?

"Taking It To The Streets"

Do you believe that it's beneficial for representatives to have previous experience in government or politics?

It is more important to serve the people.

What do you perceive to be the United States' greatest challenges as a nation over the next decade?

Rebalancing the power of massive corporations and wealthy individuals vs the people.

What are your thoughts on term limits?

In favor.

Do you believe that compromise is necessary or desirable for policymaking?

I prefer collaboration, but yes, compromise is fine.

Campaign website

Linderman's campaign website stated the following:

Contract For Rural And Working America

ISSUES THAT MATTER TO KENTUCKY AND OUR NATION

Restoring Health Care In Rural America

Rural hospitals are failing at an accelerating rate. As we address reforming and modernizing our health care system, we must secure the survival of rural hospitals.

Our goals for America's health care system are: significantly reduced costs, coverage for everyone, and a system that iseasier to use and that gets better results. A modernized health care system will alsoprovide relief and stimulus for businesses which are paying rising health care costs each year. We believe single-payer "Medicare For All" provides the structure and resources to acheive these goals.

Education & Childcare

Education must once again be an investment in our Nation's future.

Higher education, from trade schools to universities must be made available to any qualifying student for free or for very low cost. Public schools must be expanded to provide childcare and preschool in order to allow working people to work. These programs must be available to all children regardless of income. Excessive student debt carried by many Americans is a 1.6 trillion dollar drag on the U.S. economy, so financing of education must be cleared of predatory lenders. We need the return of high school shop classes, home economics, trade schools and apprenticeship programs. These will be critical as we move forward with rebuilding our supply chain. All of these programs will create jobs.

Support for Small, Subsistence and Family Farms

Farming by individuals, families and co-ops needs to be encouraged. Tax benefits like those given to large agri-businesses that will work for and not against the family farm must be implemented.

Possible policies include: price supports for family farms or co-ops, a national non-profit disaster insurance program designed to protect family farmers, a national non-profit credit bureau to finance family farms and equipment, and community tax benefits for businesses using or selling local family farm products. We will also support "Right To Repair" laws and common sense migrant worker policies. We need high quality locally grown food, clean water and air, sustained wildlife habitat, and the assurance that our children will continue to want to call rural America, "home". The resurrection of vibrant rural communities will bring much needed health and economic benefits to all Americans.

Rebuilding America's Infrastructure And Domestic Supply Chain

For too long, working people have been denied the benefits of global trade

The needs of business, working people and national security must all be considered and balanced. We must rebuild our domestic supply chain, particularly in industries with national defense ramifications, such as tech, electronics, renewable energy.

A Living Wage

Compared to the 1970's, wages have dropped, in fact, 1977's minimum wage adjusted for inflation and purchasing power would be $22/hr. today.

Raising the minimum wage is one way the Nation can begin to address the extreme inequality we now face. It will also raise tax revenues, stimulate the economy, and provide much needed opportunity throughout America.

Support For Workers In Declining Industries

We believe American workers need protection from the increasingly turbulent changes they experience in the workforce.

As industries decline, working populations need support. Some of this support must be direct, such as using targeted/universal basic income when factories shut down. By designating development zones and using tax credits and grants to encourage new industry these areas can be spared the devastation they are currently facing.

Renewable Rural Energy: Water, Wind and Solar

The tremendously profitable fossil fuel industry is subsidized annually to the tune of billions of dollars. We question the need to subsidize highly profitable international corporations.

We think rural America would be better served if subsidies were redirected to make energy costs lower for all Americans,. This will reverse the pollution of our air, water, and land, safeguarding a cleaner environment to pass on to our children, as well as creating more and better paying energy sector� jobs. To ensure the best future for America, our energy must come from renewable, non-polluting sources. The transformation away from petroleum powered vehicles to electric has already begun - providing clean power for all of our needs will be a challenge we cannot afford to ignore.

Rural Broadband

The internet is now a requirement for daily life, like water and power. We must bring the internet to every place Americans live and work - this will improve education and provide business opportunities that are currently impossible.

Construction of this new infrastructure will provide jobs as well. To avoid the difficulties states have faced when trying to do this themselves, this must be a national project, like Rural Electrification (1936) or the creation of the Federal Interstate System (1956). Additionally, we need higher standards for wireless carriers. Extensive sections of rural America are without any coverage. Wireless providers that benefit from doing business in cities must up their game in Rural America, or other ways of providing coverage must be found.

Abuse Prevention, Rehabilitation and Support

Drug abuse in America is a complex problem that will require efforts on several fronts to control. Prevention programs in schools, expanded health care, rehab and follow up will all be important, as will be addressing America's rising inequality.

In Kentucky one in four public school students have a parent in jail or serving time for a drug related offense. The collateral damage from the "War on Drugs" continues to do almost as much damage to rural families and communities as the problem of abuse and addiction. The War on Drugs has failed. It is time for a more enlightened approach. We must also hold drug manufacturers liable for misleading the public, and for irresponsibly promoting and overselling addictive drugs.

Legalization of Cannabis

Cannabis is under prohibition in many states, but the writing is on the wall: legalization is coming, sooner or later.

Legal cannabis and hemp mean a new cash crop for farmers, new business opportunities for investors and business owners, and the possibility of new ways of treating pain without addiction. Cannabis enforcement disproportionately punishes people of color; legalization will eliminate a significant piece of systemic racism.

Secretary of Rural Affairs

This new cabinet level position must be created with the goal of making rural life more than survivable:

Rural America must become a place where families can thrive, with new opportunities for work, education and a dignified life.

Inequality In America

Almost every problem America faces has its roots in inequality; social and economic. Addressing inequality is critical if we are to make any headway in the fields of health care, employment and the future of work, education, and even dealing with climate change.

Equality is the American ideal; "With liberty and justice for all." So it is important to understand that we cannot succeed as a Nation without confronting social and economic inequality head on.

This means, that we must strive for equal rights, no matter your race, gender, age, or any other physical description. It means we must strive for equal opportunity no matter your family's net worth. It means, improving schooling, improving our social safety net, and investing in our people as an investment in our Nation. And, it means redefining the role of our Nation's police, re-examining the goals and the means of policing. We need to find ways to include more direct community involvement in policing, and raising the standards for entry for recruits. We must see a reduction in the unnecessary use of violence, particularly against black Americans.

Our economy needs work as well. We can no longer accept the concept of "Trickle Down" without a comparable and perhaps even more robust application of "Trickle UP." The leaves of our national tree have been getting plenty of sunshine and water; it is time to pay attention to the roots. To the very wealthy in America, I have good news: your lives will be better if the rest of us are healthier, better educated, and a little better off.

We will strive for balance. This is one of the most difficult goals toachieve - it is a moving target, and the instant we find balance, things are already shifting. It is a job that is never finished.

And yet, it is a job that must be done. We must put in the effort now, to plant seeds for trees we may never see, to build an America that works for all of us. Our Nation, and our world, depend on us.

NøPE

No Plastics In my Environmemt

We all use too much single-use plastic, and often we don't have a lot of choice in the matter. For example, if you order a cup of coffee on a flight, it can arrive with a single-use plastic lid and stirrer. Wearing a NøPE button lets your flight attendant know you don't want any single-use plastic. If you go to a coffee shop wearing a NøPE button, the server at the counter knows you want a ceramic cup or a paper cup with no plastic lid. At restaurants, your NøPE button means you want cardboard go boxes, that you don't want a plastic straw, that you want to do what you can to eliminate single-use plastics.

NøPE means "No Plastics in my Environment". It can also mean you want your school or other organization to divest themselves of petroleum based investments. It means you want to preserve the Earth for future generations.

It may take some time to achieve these goals, but raising awareness is the place to start. Every time someone notices your NoPE button, you have made a tiny difference. These tiny differences will add up over time and lead to minds and actions being changed.

We came up with NøPE as part of our campaign for Congress in Kentucky's 2nd District - that's why our campaign is a small part of the NøPE button. If you want to use the artwork we have created for your organization or political campaign, please feel free to use our artwork to order your own buttons, you are free to replace our campaign info with yours. We reserve the right to withdraw this permission if your organization is trying to undermine the elimination of single-use plastics.[3]

—Hank Linderman's campaign website (2022)[5]

Hank Linderman did not complete [the profile publisher]'s 2020 Candidate Connection survey.

.survey-result {padding:10px;}

p.survey-question {font-weight:bold;}

p.survey-response {margin-left:10px;}

p.survey-response {white-space: pre-line;}

div.survey-scrollbox { height:400px; overflow:scroll; margin:20px; padding:10px; border:1px solid gray; }

What would be your top three priorities, if elected?

Hank supports a Healthcare solution that values human goals. It must be easier to use, be more affordable, and put patient care over profits for healthcare companies.

Hank is proposing a nation-wide rural broadband project, on the scale of the highway system, that would bring reliable, good internet access to all Americans.

Hank supports legalizing medical marijuana and rescheduling cannabis, because the benefits of this plant far outweigh the costs of prohibition.

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

Hank wants to return civil discourse and collaboration to the political sphere. Idealogical purity is a weakness, and we need to have an America that works together for the future.