Hawkins to Run for City Council
Syracuse Post-Standard
Frederic Pierce Political Notebook
March 23rd, 2007
Howie Hawkins, the perennial Green Party candidate who ran credible - if losing - campaigns in Syracuse's 2005 mayoral race and last year's U.S. Senate contest, plans to be on the ballot again in November.
But this time, Hawkins said, it's for keeps.
After toying with the idea of running for Onondaga County executive, Hawkins said he decided instead to run for Syracuse councilor-at-large a seat he thinks he may actually be able to win.
"We're really looking at council races and just trying to run a few races well, and maybe get someone in there," said Hawkins, noting that the lack of clear head-to-head matchups in the at-large race could work in his favor. "It would still be hard to win, but I think there's a shot you'd get elected. Or at least get into the double digits."
Hawkins took 4.6 percent of the vote in 2005's neck-and-neck mayoral race between Matt Driscoll, the Democratic incumbent, and Joanie Mahoney, the Republican challenger who ended up losing by the narrowest margin in 80 years.
This year, Mahoney and Driscoll are both potential contenders for county executive, a possibility that led Hawkins to seriously consider throwing his hat in the ring.
"We thought it would give us a good platform because it would be a repeat of the mayoral race," Hawkins said. "But then we thought, 'If they're willing to spend half a million each to be mayor, how much are they going to spend for county executive? $3 million?' "
Instead, the party plans to run grass-roots, "under-the-radar" campaigns in the at-large race and several of the district contests, Hawkins said.