For immediate release: August 1, 2018

Notice of News Conference

Date: Thursday, August 2, 2018
Location: In front of Spectrum, old New York Central Station, 815 Erie Blvd East, Syracuse
Time: 11:00 AM
Who: Howie Hawkins for Governor

Hawkins to Call for State Take Over of Spectrum for Public Broadband Utility

With state regulators demanding that Charter sell Spectrum, Howie Hawkins, the Green candidate for New York governor, will call for New York State itself to take over Spectrum for its own public broadband utility.

Hawkins will discuss how a public broadband utility will lower costs, improve service, and protect net neutrality and privacy protections that federal regulators recently eliminated.

He will also discuss how cities like Syracuse, whose franchise with Spectrum expired 11 years ago in 2007, now have a good case in light of the Public Service Commission’s recent action against Spectrum for just cause to take over the Spectrum franchise municipally without waiting for a state takeover.

NY State of Politics, August 1, 2018

As the main democratic socialist organization in New York City embraces the candidacy of Cynthia Nixon, a trio of socialist groups this week backed Green Party candidate Howie Hawkins.

Hawkins was endorsed by the Socialist Party USA, Solidarity, and the International Socialist Organization.

Hawkins is making his third run for governor this year.

A longtime labor and civil rights advocate, he’s taken issue with what he sees as repackaged liberalism that’s being branded as democratic socialism.

“I am encouraged to see more and more candidates like Bernie Sanders, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and now even Cynthia Nixon identify themselves as democratic socialists,” Hawkins said. “Their policies, however, are really old-fashioned liberalism. They exclude a central tenet of the socialist tradition, which is to replace capitalism with a new and democratic economic system based on social ownership of the major means of production. But they have opened up a long-stifled discussion of socialism among progressives, and especially young people, for whom the status quo isn’t working.”

Nixon and her running mate Jumaane Williams were endorsed Sunday by the New York City DSA.

55 Plus, August-September 2018

The 65-year-old Green Party leader continues to ‘demand more’ — he has run for public office 21 times in the past 25 years. He is now running for governor. Again? He explains why

By Aaron Gifford

Even though he has yet to win an election and has been arrested now and again to make a point, Central New York’s most well-known socialist-environmentalist third-party candidate has accomplished far more during his ongoing political career than most people realize.

Sixty-five-year-old Howie Hawkins, of Syracuse, is the co-founder of the Green Party and played a major role in his party’s presidential runs with candidate Ralph Nader. The two major political parties and even some industries have adopted Green Party ideas.

For immediate release: July 31, 2018

Socialists Endorse Hawkins

Howie Hawkins, the Green Party candidate for New York Governor, received the endorsement of three socialist organizations this week: Socialist Party USA (SPUSA), Solidarity, and the International Socialist Organization (ISO).

When he announced his campaign in April, Hawkins declared he would campaign as an eco-socialist. “We need the economic democracy of socialism for real solutions to the crises of the climate, growing inequality, and political domination by the billionaire class. Capitalism’s blind, relentless growth is destroying the environment. Capitalism's exploitation of labor makes the rich richer and leaves the rest of us struggling to pay our bills and stay in our homes. Capitalism’s concentrated wealth translates into concentrated political power for the rich and the giant banks and corporations. These radical problems require radical remedies,” Hawkins said.

“I am encouraged to see more and more candidates like Bernie Sanders, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and now even Cynthia Nixon identify themselves as democratic socialists. Their policies, however, are really old-fashioned liberalism. They exclude a central tenet of the socialist tradition, which is to replace capitalism with a new and democratic economic system based on social ownership of the major means of production. But they have opened up a long-stifled discussion of socialism among progressives, and especially young people, for whom the status quo isn’t working,” Hawkins said.

“Socialism would employ the economic democracy of social ownership to distribute income more equitably according to labor contribution and to use economic planning to ensure a decent standard of living for all on an ecologically sustainable basis,” Hawkins said. "Socialism is not government programs as opposed to private enterprises. The key to socialism is democracy — democratic control of public enterprises and cooperatives in the private sector.”

For immediate release: July 31, 2018

Howie Hawkins, the Green Party candidate for Governor, said today that while the new study on single payer healthcare by the RAND Corporation underestimated the potential savings, it still documented the need for New York to enact the program.

“It is long past time to make access to quality healthcare a universal right in New York and nationally. As Governor, I will include the New York Health Act in my first budget proposal – something Cuomo refused to do last year after stating support for single payer. People will no longer have to worry about how to provide healthcare for their loved ones. It will also reduce costs for consumers and businesses,” said Hawkins, a long-time advocate for single payer healthcare.

WSYR News/Talk Radio (Syracuse), July 31, 2018

Audio

Howie Hawkins addresses Nixon's embrace of Bloomberg, the dynamics of the gubernatorial election in the fall, the evolution of the Green Party, and the impact of the corruption trials on the fall gubernatorial election.

Newsday, July 31, 2018

Also running in November’s general election for governor will be Stephanie Miner, the former Syracuse mayor on the Serve America Movement line; and Howie Hawkins, a labor activist running on the Green Party line.

Buffalo News: July 31, 2018

If Nixon loses, the Working Families Party has a plan that, according to experts, is rarely used even in the Byzantine world of New York election laws. The party has said it does not want to be a spoiler in the general election. That could happen if Nixon stays in the race on the WFP line and she, former Syracuse Mayor Stephanie Miner on the Serve America Movement line, and Green Party candidate Howie Hawkins take votes from the governor that end up helping to elect the GOP’s Molinaro....

Republicans like this possibility the most. It envisions sustained challenges by multiple candidates all with left-of-center leanings except the GOP’s Molinaro. This is the scenario where Molinaro swoops into office as Cuomo, Nixon, Miner and Hawkins battle it out for more left-leaning voters.

Cuomo backers dismiss the theory because they believe the anti-Cuomo vote all stems from the same pool.

But Nicholas Langworthy, chairman of the Erie County Republican Party, said a scenario in which Cuomo faces multiple challengers in the general could help Molinaro. Nixon would have a base of support on the left and Hawkins would get his loyal Green Party supporters to turn out for another of his gubernatorial runs. Langworthy said it’s too soon to determine what kind of threat Miner might be, but he noted both Hawkins and Miner have strong name recognition in Central New York.

For immediate release: July 30, 2018

Hawkins Says Nixon’s Support for Mayor Bloomberg’s Policies is Shocking

Howie Hawkins, the Green Party candidate for Governor, said he was shocked that Cynthia Nixon told the NY Times she would not be running for Governor if Michael Bloomberg was the incumbent.

“Michael Bloomberg promoted the corporatization of the NYC school system, promoted racial discrimination by the NYC police department through stop-and-frisk, and presided over the gentrification of the city making it unaffordable for working-class New Yorkers. He did nothing to fix the growing problems with public housing and the city subway system as they continued to deteriorate,” said Hawkins.

Mayor Bloomberg publicly defended the growing income inequality in the city, saying “That’s not a measure of something we should be ashamed of.” Bloomberg defended driving up housing prices to make them unaffordable for many, saying it was a good way to bring in new investment.

Hawkins said it was especially startling to hear of Nixon’s support for Bloomberg in light of his education policies. “Bloomberg’s education policies are indistinguishable from that of Cuomo,” Hawkins noted.

WSYR-TV (ABC, Syracuse), July 29, 2018

Video

This week on Newsmakers with Dan Cummings, Dan talks to Howie Hawkins of Syracuse, the Green Party candidate for Governor in the November elections.