Green Party candidate Howie Hawkins is poised to do better than in the past, and possibly better than the left leaning candidate has ever done in New York.
Hawkins, who’s been running as high as 14% in the polls in some regions of the state , says New Yorkers on the left are increasingly disenchanted with Cuomo. The Green Party candidate cites Cuomo’s budget cuts, enacting lowered pension benefits for new state workers, and the governor’s refusal, so far, to ban hydro fracking.
“He’s my best campaign worker, he’s pushing people toward me,” Hawkins, said of Cuomo.
In the final days of the campaign, Cuomo was feuding 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 says Cuomo is trying to “privatize” the schools, and siding with the powerful and the wealthy.
While Cuomo is still expected to win over Republican challenger Rob Astorino, it’s possible that the Green Party could win Row C on the ballot, after the Democratic and Republican lines, if Hawkins garners enough votes on Tuesday.