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Green candidate speaks in Watkins Glen
The Leader (Corning): August 5, 2018
Green Party candidate for New York governor Howie Hawkins talks about environmental policy Saturday at Watkins Glen State Park. [STEPHEN BORGNA/THE LEADER]
Hawkins, running for governor, eyes strong November results
By Stephen Borgna
WATKINS GLEN - Green Party candidate Howie Hawkins is in the midst of his third campaign for New York governor. But he believes this time is his best chance yet.
Hawkins, who’s campaigning on a progressive platform headlined by policies regarding single-payer healthcare and clean energy, among others, says the crowded New York candidate field isn’t so crowded where he stands.
“It’s not crowded on the left, the progressive side,” said Hawkins.
“When progressives look at what their options are, are they going to go back to (Gov.) Andrew Cuomo again?” he said.
Hawkins says compared to the rest of the candidates, he is the only one running on a truly progressive platform - issues he said resonate with voters in the state. He categorized Cuomo and Cynthia Nixon, both Democrats, as centrists compared to him.
“We’re standing with the people on the issues they really care about … the difficulty is right now it’s all about the movie star versus the governor, and the rest of us are kind of mentioned as waiting in the wings,” said Hawkins. “But I feel good about it, because when we get to the fall, we’ll be on the progressive side, you’ll have two centrists … and you’ve got two conservatives. So we’ll have that whole lane open to us.”
Hawkins was at Watkins Glen State Park Saturday afternoon where he called on Cuomo to reconvene the state Legislature and have them take up a vote on a bill to halt garbage incineration in the Finger Lakes.
“Even though the state law says the way to deal with solid waste is first to reduce, reuse or recycle, far too often the state approves jumping directly to burning,” said Hawkins in a statement. “We need a policy of zero waste in New York.”
The current field of major candidates for New York governor includes the incumbent Cuomo, Democrat Cynthia Nixon, Republican Marc Molinaro, Libertarian Larry Sharpe and Hawkins.