NY State of Politics, Spectrum News: September 27, 2018

Green Party candidate for governor Howie Hawkins on Thursday said he would be willing to run on the Working Families Party ballot line should liberal organization drop Cynthia Nixon.

“We feel the pain of the WFP voters who can’t stand the thought of nominating Cuomo again,” Hawkins said. “Our campaign is here to help. I am confident that running a unified left campaign will generate far more than the 50,000 votes both parties need to maintain ballot status.”

The Green Party has in the past been leery of cross-party endorsements

But Hawkins has said this before. In 2014, during his second bid for governor and as Cuomo was seeking a second term, the WFP was publicly wavering over whether to endorse the incumbent or Zephyr Teachout.

At the time, Hawkins suggested the WFP and the Green Party ticket unite against Cuomo. In the end, the party wound up giving Cuomo its nod.

Four years later, the WFP endorsed Nixon, an actress and public education advocate amid her unsuccesfully Democratic primary against Cuomo.

“Running the Hawkins/Lee ticket jointly on the Green and Working Families ballot lines would electrify progressives who want unity,” Hawkins said. “It would multiply the vote for the policies both parties support, including single-payer health care, 100% clean energy, affordable housing, fixing the MTA, fully-funded public schools, tuition-free public college, public campaign finance, bail abolition, and marijuana legalization. Win or lose, a big united vote for this agenda will compel the legislators and governor who are elected to act on our demands.”

The WFP is expected to meet today and later next week to discuss who will lead its ticket going into the general election.