Green Party candidate gaining ground in governor's race
Green Party candidate for governor, Howie Hawkins, is poised to do better than in the past and possibly better than he has has ever done in New York.
Nov 03, 2014 — Green Party candidate for governor, Howie Hawkins, is poised to do better than in the past and possibly better than he has has ever done in New York.
Hawkins, whose poll numbers have been running as high as 14 percent in some regions of the state, said New Yorkers on the left are increasingly disenchanted with Cuomo. The Green Party candidate cited Cuomo’s budget cuts, enacting lowered pension benefits for new state workers, and the governor’s refusal, so far, to ban hydrofracking.
“He’s my best campaign worker, he’s pushing people toward me,” Hawkins said of Cuomo.
In the final days of the campaign, Cuomo feuded with some of the progressive elements of the Democratic Party, including the state’s teachers union. Cuomo called New York’s education system “the last public monopoly” and threatened to break it up in his second term. That prompted an angry response from teachers who said Cuomo “disrespected” them. Hawkins said Cuomo is trying to “privatize” the schools and siding with the powerful and the wealthy.
Although Cuomo is still expected to win over Republican challenger Rob Astorino, it is possible the Green Party could win Row C on the ballot, after the Democratic and Republican lines, if Hawkins garners enough votes on Tuesday.
