GREEN GIANT?
How wannabe could tarnish Andy’s crown
ALBANY — The only thing standing between Gov. Cuomo and his hopes for a resounding victory on Election Day might be a 61-year-old United Parcel Service worker from Syracuse.
Howie Hawkins has taken a leave of absence from his job unloading UPS trucks to run as the Green Party candidate for governor.
Casting himself as the “progressive choice” in the race, he has gained traction among Democrats unhappy with Cuomo for embracing tax cuts and charter schools, and for not banning fracking, a gas-drilling technique.
“Cuomo is weak on his left,” Hawkins said. “I am working hard to earn those votes and I am hearing from a lot of those people that they y are coming to me.”
Hawkins has no chance off winning, while Cuomo is heavily favored over Republican Rob Astorino.
But in a Quinnipiac poll released last week, Hawkins s received close to 10% of the vote.t That could deprive Cuomo of the wow-factor landslide he craves, and, at the same time, strengthen the hand of the political left.
The electorate’s “mood is not good and what Howie Hawkins provides is a vehicle for the protest vote,” said Nassau County Democratic chief Jay Jacobs.
People close to Cuomo believe he began the year hoping to do better than his father, former Gov. Mario Cuomo, did in his first reelection bid in 1986, when he won 64.63% of the vote.
“I don’t think he will come in under 55%, but he won’t be where a statewide Democrat with the kind of money he has should be,” said one Democratic operative, who asked for anonymity.
In the 2010 race for governor, Hawkins won 1.3%, enough to give the Green Party a permanent place on the ballot for four years.
“Unquestionably, Hawkins is going to do significantly better than he did four years ago,” said Siena pollster Steven Greenberg.
A perennial candidate, Hawkins grew up in the San Francisco area and attended Dartmouth College. He never graduated because he failed to fulfill the Ivy League school’s language requirement.
While serving in the Marines, he realized he wasn’t cut out for office work. “I am more of an outdoor guy,” he said. “All the jobs I’ve had, nobody ever cared whether I had a bachelor’s degree or not. I like physical work.”
He held construction jobs in New England before moving to Syracuse in 1991.
With a political philosophy that took root during the protest movements of the 1960s and ’70s, Hawkins launched his political career in 1993 by running for Syracuse Common Council, receiving 3% of the vote. He has also run for mayor, Congress and U.S. Senate. This is his second bid for governor.
He calls his platform the “Green New Deal.” It includes a $15 minimum wage, a single-payer health-care system, increased education aid and a ban on fracking. He also opposes the Common Core school curriculum.
Hawkins said a strong showing on Election Day would establish the Green Party as a political force and help it to capture local offices around the state.
“This is a process, not an event,” he said.