CNY Central (CBS, NBC, CW), March 8, 2018

In his most recent bid for office, the 2017 race for mayor, Hawkins received more votes than Republican candidate Laura Lavine, the first time a third party candidate has finished ahead of a major party candidate in that race in 60 years.

Hawkins went on to serve on then Mayor-elect Ben Walsh’s transition team, as a member of the finance committee.

Green Party staple Howie Hawkins will make his third attempt to become the next governor of New York.

Hawkins is currently mounting a campaign to unseat Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo, and is expected to announce his candidacy sometime later this month, he told CNYCentral on Thursday.

Hawkins said his 2018 campaign goals are to maintain the Green Party ballot line in New York state for the next 4-year election cycle, push progressive reforms and further build the Green Party base.

“Cuomo has moved to his left to adopt (at least partially) a number of reforms we advocated that he opposed or would not say (fracking ban),” he said. “He’s making these moves to his left to compete for progressive votes we got.”

Hawkins, a current UPS worker living in Syracue, ran for governor on the Green Party ticket in 2010 and 2014. In 2014, he received 4.8 percent of the vote, the largest percentage of any third party except the Conservative Party line, according to state Board of Elections records.

“We will come out of the campaign with more counties organized, more enrolled members and more dues-paying members,” Hawkins said. “We will be in a stronger position to campaign for reforms and elections at the local level across the state.”

Hawkins has run unsuccessfully for several other offices since moving to Syracuse in 1991, including Syracuse Common Council, Syracuse city auditor, New York’s 24th Congressional District, U.S. Senate and Syracuse mayor.

In his most recent bid for office, the 2017 race for mayor,Hawkins received more votes than Republican candidate Laura Lavine, the first time a third party candidate has finished ahead of a major party candidate in that race in 60 years.

Hawkins went on to serve on then Mayor-elect Ben Walsh’s transition team, as a member of the finance committee.

Hawkins’ entry into the race would add another name to the list of central New Yorkers actively or considering seeking New York’s highest office. State Sen. John DeFrancisco, from DeWitt, is vying for the Republican nomination. Former Syracuse Mayor Stephanie Miner told The New York Daily News last week that she was still considering challenging Gov. Cuomo in a Democratic primary.