Gotham Gazette

The Place for New York Policy and politics

Howie Hawkins

Howie Hawkins

  • From the 'Third Party' Front Lines, How to Address Fusion Voting, Party Qualifications, and New York Democracy

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    Howie Hawkins, the author (photo: Green Party)


    “The Democrats’ Secret Plan to Kill Third Parties in New York,” as reported by The New York Times (Oct. 29), brings to mind how the Democratic Party establishment manipulated the 2016 primary process to favor the corporate candidate, Hillary

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  • The Green New Deal New York Needs, From Its Original Source

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    Gov. Cuomo (photo via the Governor's office)


    In outlining his agenda for the first 100 days of his third term, Governor Cuomo said in December he would launch a Green New Deal. I have been calling for a Green New Deal since 2010 in three Green Party gubernatorial campaigns against him.

    Cuomo has already nominally adopted a number of my platform planks, including the fracking ban, marriage equality, a $15 minimum wage, tuition-free public college, paid family leave, and legalization of marijuana. Unfortunately, the implementation of some of these

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  • A 'Green New Deal' for New York and More: Where the Climate Change Conversation is Headed in 2019

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    (Photo: Michael Appleton/Mayoral Photography Office)


    This is part of AGENDA 2019, a joint Gotham Gazette-City Limits project
    Find the rest of the series here

    After an election where the issue ...

  • Without Cuomo, Other Candidates for Governor Present Ideas in Tempered Debate

    Cuomo Molinaro Miner Hawkins Sharpe

    Cuomo, Molinaro, Miner, Hawkins, Sharpe


    New York’s gubernatorial candidates (minus Governor Andrew Cuomo, who declined the invitation) took the stage at Albany’s College of Saint Rose Thursday evening for the second debate of the general election, but, unlike the first, one that did not once summon the name “Trump” and focused more on the intricacies of running the

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  • Climate Change, and What To Do About It, Largely Missing from Governor’s Race

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    Gov. Cuomo and former VP Gore in 2015 (photo: The Governor's Office)


    New York’s 2018 gubernatorial election has largely been eclipsed, like so many things in United States politics, by a massive Trump-shaped shadow. Within that shadow, Andrew Cuomo and Marc Molinaro have argued about the health of upstate New York, management of the MTA, and dueling corruption charges, among other topics. But one looming issue, climate change, has seemed

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  • Cuomo Challengers Level Critiques; Will Anything Stick?

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    Gov. Cuomo (photo: Mike Groll/Govenor's Office)


    With less than a month till voters go to the polls on November 6, it appears Governor Andrew Cuomo, a Democrat, has little cause for worry as he seeks a third term. His favorability among voters may have dropped but public polling has shown him holding consistently wide leads over his opponents. His campaign war chest, though massively depleted by a bruising primary battle, still remains formidable at $9 million-plus, dwarfing his four general election competitors. And he is instantly recognizable to most voters,

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  • How ‘Blue’ is New York?

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    Gov. Cuomo (photo: New York State Democratic Party)


    New York is frequently portrayed as one of the most solidly Democratic, “blue” states in the country, along with places like California and Massachusetts. And New York reliably votes for Democrats in presidential elections, has two Democratic United States senators, a majority of its U.S. House members are Democrats, it has exclusively elected Democratic governors and other statewide state-level officials since 2006, and a wide majority of its state Assembly members is Democratic.

    But the state Senate is split

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  • Max & Murphy Podcast: Howie Hawkins, Green Party Nominee for Governor

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    Ben Max, left, of Gotham Gazette, and Jarrett Murphy, right, of City Limits


    September 26, 2018 - Max & Murphy Podcast: Howie Hawkins, Green Party Nominee for Governor

    hawkins 2010 f1For the third straight election cycle, Howie Hawkins is the Green Party nominee for Governor. He's improved the Green Party vote total each of his previous two runs, earning 5% of the vote in 2014, and is hoping to

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  • Post-Primary Campaign Finance Filings Show Cuomo’s Already Spent $28 Million

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    Photo: Mike Groll/Office of Governor Andrew M. Cuomo)


    Governor Andrew Cuomo, a Democrat running for reelection to a third term, successfully claimed the Democratic Party nomination earlier this month after a bitter primary battle against actor and education activist Cynthia Nixon. But the victory came at significant cost as Cuomo spent more than $20 million this year alone, nearly ten times what Nixon spent in total as she attempted to unseat him.

    Cuomo, who won with 64.4 percent of the vote to Nixon’s 34.4 percent in the September 13 primary, is headed into the

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  • Gubernatorial Candidates Miner, Sharpe & Hawkins Lay Out Campaign Platforms, Cases Against Cuomo

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    Miner, Sharpe, Hawkins (l-r)


    Governor Andrew Cuomo defeated Democratic primary challenger Cynthia Nixon fairly handily on September 13, when attention began to shift to the race between Cuomo and Republican gubernatorial nominee Marc Molinaro, currently the Dutchess county executive.

    But while Cuomo and Molinaro are the nominees of the two major parties, and each will also appear on at least two other party ballot lines in November, there are three other candidates running serious general election campaigns for governor of New York. (It remains to be seen if

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  • What You Can Learn From Gubernatorial Candidates' Campaign Websites

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    (image: Cuomo campaign website home page)


    The digital presence of elected government officials and candidates seeking elected office – whether it’s a fledgling Instagram account with a humble following or a tweet gone viral with tens of thousands of retweets – cannot be underestimated in today’s world. Social media provides direct access between candidates and voters, and can remove traditional barriers between constituents and their elected officials.

    Many, for instance, have partly ascribed ...

  • Statewide Candidates File July Fundraising Numbers

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    Gov. Cuomo at a funding event (photo: The Governor's Office)


    With less than two months till the September 13 primary election, candidates running for state office filed campaign financial disclosure reports with the New York State Board of Elections by the Monday deadline, showing fundraising and expenditures from a six-month period between January 16 and July 16.

    Governor Andrew Cuomo, the two-term incumbent Democrat who is running for reelection, continues to maintain an overwhelming funding advantage with more than $31 million in his campaign coffers. Cuomo

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  • Party Nominations for Statewide Elections Come Into Focus

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    Cynthia Nixon at the WFP convention (photo: Make The Road Action)


    It’s political party convention season as this state and federal election year heats up in New York, with federal primaries on June 26, state primaries September 13, and the general election November 6.

    Over the weekend, the Working Families Party and Green Party held their nominating conventions on Saturday and the Reform Party held its on Sunday. This week the Democratic and Republican state parties will hold their conventions, nominating candidates for the

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  • The Contradictions of Cross-Endorsements in the Governor’s Race

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    (photo via Facebook: @HowieHawkinsForGovernorPolitician)


    That didn’t take long. On Saturday, April 13 the Working Families Party endorsed Democrat Cynthia Nixon for New York Governor. By the following Tuesday, the WFP said they didn’t really mean it.

    “We will not be a spoiler,” said Bill Lipton, the WFP’s political director, indicating that the WFP will take Nixon off its ballot line if she loses the Democratic primary against Governor Andrew Cuomo. Perhaps the WFP will offer Cuomo their ballot line for a third time if he wins the Democratic primary – if he will

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