The real thing: https://jancox.com/

Not sure if you'd call this "fringe stuff." It certainly wasn't mainstream. Before he became a guru / cult leader (your choice), Jan Cox was one of the most eccentric of all political figures in Georgia.

I voted for Cox when he ran for governor in 1970 (he was fond of pointing out that he was a carpenter and his initials were J. C. He also promised that if elected, he wouldn't move into the governor's mansion until all the state's homeless people had a place to live.