In the movie Waking the Dead, the congressional candidate in question is named Fielding Pierce, played by Billy Crudup. He becomes consumed with grief and guilt after his girlfriend and fellow activist, Sarah Williams (Jennifer Connelly), is killed in a car bombing while they are both working on political activism in the late 1970s.
Years later, in the early 1990s, Pierce is running for Congress and still struggling to come to terms with Sarah's death. He begins to believe he is losing his grip on reality when he starts seeing Sarah's ghostly apparition and hearing her voice. As he continues to spiral, he becomes more and more obsessed with uncovering the truth behind her death.
However, things take a dramatic turn when Sarah suddenly reappears, alive and well, leaving Pierce questioning his own sanity. The two reignite their romance, but Pierce still can't shake the feeling that there is more to Sarah's reappearance than meets the eye.
The movie explores themes of mental health, grief, political corruption, and the lengths to which one can go for love. Directed by Keith Gordon and based on the novel by Scott Spencer, Waking the Dead was released in 2000 and received mostly positive reviews for its performances and themes.