Ithaca.com: October 31, 2018 

Howie Hawkins is a perennial candidate who has touted the value of green energy initiatives and socialism for New York.

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2018 Midterm Elections: Your Guide for November 6

Governor of New York

Governor Andrew Cuomo (D) vs. Marc Molinaro (R) vs. Howie Hawkins (Green) vs. Larry Sharpe (Libertarian) vs. Stephanie Miner (SAM)

Incumbent Andrew Cuomo hasn’t had the cleanest of tenures, with allegations of corruption and ineffectiveness aplenty, but he’s still expected to win fairly easily. Perhaps his largest challenge of this election season came from actress and activist Cynthia Nixon in the Democratic primary, as her charismatic campaign pushed the long-time center-left Cuomo farther toward progressivism. Seemingly in response to her campaign’s popularity, Cuomo softened his stance on legalizing marijuana, among a host of other progressive shifts. 

As for the general election, it has been contentious if not ugly. Molinaro has leveled many of the aforementioned criticisms at Cuomo, calling New York the most corrupt state in the U.S.  The one debate that has been held between the two was a mix between uninformative and a little bizarre, and it’s unclear if another will be scheduled in the final days before the election. Perhaps the most salient issue to come out of that debate for upstate New Yorkers was a discussion of fracking, which Cuomo banned in 2014. While the practice is deeply unpopular in Ithaca, fracking has some support elsewhere in upstate where it is viewed as a potential boon to struggling economies. Molinaro said he would support a pilot program that would allow fracking on a trial basis.

In the latest general election polling from the beginning of October, Cuomo led Molinaro (the only included opponent in the poll) by over 20 points. Howie Hawkins is a perennial candidate who has touted the value of green energy initiatives and socialism for New York. Stephanie Miner was considered a rising star in the Democratic party while serving as the Syracuse mayor, though she declined a chance to run against Cuomo in a primary and instead chose to found the Serve America Movement party and run on its line. Larry Sharpe has found unexpected success in a down-the-middle path of sorts, trying to appeal to angry Republicans who value gun rights along with pro-marijuana and criminal justice reform liberals.