RocNow
Gary McLendon
October 12, 2010

Green Party candidate for governor Howie Hawkins doesn’t have the entourage of fellow candidates Andrew Cuomo and Carl Paladino. And he gets a fraction of the public attention his major party opponents draw.

Still, Hawkins told a handful of people at the Green Party of Monroe County’s monthly meeting Monday night that he’s hopeful he can draw enough votes to give Green Party candidates a stronger political foothold.

“Fifty-thousand votes for the gubernatorial ticket qualifies us to have an automatic ballot line on all state ballots for the next four years. …That’s our goal. Then the more votes we get above that the stronger the message is for changing the debate. I think both goals are achievable,” said Hawkins, of Syracuse, speaking at the Flying Squirrel Community Center on Clarissa Street.

Hawkins wants to close the state budget deficit by requiring Wall Street traders pay a stock transfer tax. He supports the creation of jobs that pay a livable wage, more affordable housing, a switch to clean energy, tax reforms, and ethics reforms in state government.

Without the following of Cuomo or Paladino, Hawkins is relying on the open-mindedness of voters toward his political positions to gather enough votes to meet party goals.

Hawkins is scheduled to appear on WXXI-AM (1370) at noon today, and at the University of Rochester from 5 to 6:30 p.m.

He will also appear with Cuomo and Paladino during a debate Oct. 18 slated to be broadcast statewide from Hofstra University on Long Island.