Rochester Democrat & Chronicle
Jill Terreri
October 22, 2010

A debate that aimed to give all candidates for governor a place to air their views in front of a Rochester-area audience at Henrietta Town Hall had just two participants on Friday, and one is waging a write-in campaign.

That left Green Party candidate Howie Hawkins with ample opportunity to talk about his support for a growth in government-sponsored jobs, a progressive tax structure and single-payer health care and his opposition to drilling for natural gas in the Marcellus Shale region, as he was the only candidate who will appear on the ballot who showed up.

Hawkins, of Syracuse, debated Republican Edmund Dunn of Victor, who is waging a write-in campaign.

The debate attracted about 50 people, most of whom stayed for about an hour and 45 minutes as the candidates addressed their questions.

Hawkins, a Teamsters member, said unions aren’t a problem.

“The scapegoating of the workers is not a solution,” he said.

Hawkins and Dunn are facing Republican Carl Paladino of Buffalo and Democrat Andrew Cuomo of Westchester County, and both major party candidates were the subject of frequent attacks.

Dunn, a builder who speaks with a thick Boston accent and favors an audit of state government and eliminating high-paying public jobs, told the group: “My name is Ed Dunn. I’ll get something done.”

The candidates diverged on privatization of state assets, which Dunn said he was open to. Hawkins was not.

Hawkins has frequently run for office, but he has taken a leave from his job at UPS and has been actively campaigning, he said.

If the Green Party gets more than 50,000 votes, it will remain on the ballot for elections in New York for the next four years. Hawkins is hoping the party wins more votes on its line than the Independence or Conservative parties, which would make it third on the ballot.

Lawyer Douglas Fisher, who lives in downtown Rochester, said he was impressed with Hawkins’ knowledge of the issues and his environmental positions and said he was considering voting for him.

Libertarian candidate Warren Redlich, of suburban Albany, had an emergency and could not attend, and Anti-Prohibition candidate Kristin Davis of Manhattan also canceled.

The event was organized by Jonathan Fluck of Brooklyn, who said he was disappointed that more candidates didn’t attend.