"Looks like the WFP has rejected their version of Pierre Rinfret for a recycled version of Cuomo -- Mario that is. Getting a Democratic Governor to campaign for other Democrats is not an accomplishment if you are an independent third party. Regardless of how the WFP pyschodrama plays out, the Green Party will remain the choice this November for progressives who support a $15 an hour minimum wage, living wage jobs, climate action, strong public schools, and an end to corruption at the State Capitol," said Howie Hawkins, the Green nominee for Governor.

Hawkins is speaking at the Left Forum in New York City this weekend about independent politics. Hawkins will hold a fundraiser with Kshama Sawant, the newly elected socialist Seattle City Council member who successfully championed raising the minimum wage to $15.

The Hawkins for Governor Green Party campaign will hold a fundraiser after the Left Forum on Saturday, May 31 with recently elected Seattle City Council member Kshama Sawant. The Green Party is pushing for a $15 an hour minimum wage similar to what Sawant has pushed in Seattle.

Diane Ravitch has brought the real facts and a commitment to quality public schools for all back into the debate about education reform. I read her blog and I especially appreciated her most recent book, Reign of Error: The Hoax of the Privatizaton Movement and the Danger to America's Public Schools. Indeed, because of our strong opposition to the teacher scapegoating, high-stakes testing, and charter school privatization pushed by Governor Cuomo, the Green Party nominated a progressive teacher, Brian Jones, as our candidate for Lt. Governor.

I don't know where Ravitch stands other policies our Green campaign promotes, including public jobs for the unemployed, a $15 minimum wage, single payer health care, a ban on fracking, and progressive tax reform. Nor do I know if she supports our goal of building an independent left party of the working class majority that is free to act without the compromising entanglements of the major parties with their wealthy corporate funders. However, democracy is best served by a full and open discussion of the issues. Ms. Ravitch would be a wonderful addition to the debate on education along with the Green, Democratic, and Republican candidates.

Memorial Day is a day to honor men and women who lost their lives in military service

Veterans have put the well-being of the country first and their service ought to be respected even when we disagree with the military and foreign policies of our civilian political leadership, as I did when I was a Marine during the Vietnam War.

As Governor, I pledge to work to ensure that veterans receive the assistance they are entitled to.

"If Cuomo can't tell us the truth about a little thing like the Independence Party line, what really big things is he lying about?" asked Howie Hawkins. "Maybe he is not telling the truth when people give him $40,000 campaign contributions that they don't expect a favor in return. Is it really just coincidence that 45 percent of his campaign donations came from donations of $40,000 or more and this year's budget cut business and estate taxes?"

Howie Hawkins, the Green Party candidate for Governor, called today for Senator Cecilia Tkaczyk of the Capital District to support the Farm Worker Bill of Rights (A01792A/S01743-A) since she won her election as a Green candidate.

The Green Party rules prohibit the Greens from nominating candidates who are running on the Democratic Party line. Tkaczyk however used a process known as Opportunity to Ballot to maneuver her way on to the Green line in addition to the Democratic and Working Families lines. The 1,892 votes she received on the Green line were critical in her 18 vote victory in 2012.

Following up on a resolution adopted by the State Committee of the Green Party at the party's nominating convention in Troy on Saturday, May 17, Green Party leaders sent a letter today to the Executive Board of the Working Families Party suggesting a joint meeting to discuss cooperation in opposing Governor Cuomo's conservative agenda and supporting their common progressive policy goals.

"Only Andrew Cuomo would believe that replacing a state legislator who claimed per diems for expenses when not at work with a former Governor who was fined for shaking down the Yankees for playoff tickets is a solution to the ethical problems within the Democratic Party," said Howie Hawkins, the Green Party candidate who will face off against Cuomo if he wins the Democratic Party nod for a second term.

Hawkins joined with Alice Green and Center for Law and Justice to deliver 10,000 petition signatures to Cuomo Tuesday calling on the governor to establish a Truth, Justice and Reconciliation Commission to study the impacts of mass incarceration on New Yorkers, largely brought about by the failed war on drugs.