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Stephanie Miner wins ballot line for new Serve America Movement in NY governor race

Stephanie Miner wins ballot line for new Serve America Movement in NY governor race

Syracuse Post-Standard: November 7, 2018

In Syracuse, Miner, a two-term mayor, trailed fellow Syracusan Howie Hawkins who also ran for governor....

Hawkins won 94,839 votes statewide to secure the Green Party a ballot line for the next four years. In Onondaga County, Hawkins won 3 percent of the vote. He won 463 more votes than Miner in Syracuse.

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By Michelle Breidenbach

Former Syracuse Mayor Stephanie Miner succeeded Tuesday in her effort to win a recognized ballot line for a new party called the Serve America Movement.

She won 50,672 votes across the state, according to unofficial results from the New York State Board of Elections. That's 672 more than she needed for SAM to be a recognized party in New York state for the next four years.

In Syracuse, Miner, a two-term mayor, trailed fellow Syracusan Howie Hawkins who also ran for governor.

She won 5,314 votes, or 3.2 percent of the vote, in Onondaga County, her home. She won 1,252 votes in Syracuse, according to the Onondaga County Board of Election's unofficial results.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo won re-election with 58 percent of the vote.

Republican Marc Molinaro won 44 of 50 Upstate counties, according to unofficial results.

Miner was polling at about 2 percent in her independent race against incumbent and fellow Democrat Cuomo, Republican Marc Molinaro, Green Hawkins and  Libertarian Larry Sharpe.

Hawkins won 94,839 votes statewide to secure the Green Party a ballot line for the next four years. In Onondaga County, Hawkins won 3 percent of the vote. He won 463 more votes than Miner in Syracuse.

Miner issued a press release 13 minutes after the polls closed. She congratulated Cuomo and said there is no doubt the SAM party will continue a conversation about "better politics and better results."

SAM, which coincidentally are also her initials, is based in Denver, Colorado and was founded in 2017 by people tired of the two major political parties. She was SAM's first candidate.

The party's stated purpose is to "build a new political party for a new American majority." That includes investing in health care, education and infrastructure; using science and facts to guide environmental policy; ending mass incarceration; ensuring fair access to voting and disrupting the "political status quo." It also champions free markets, free trade and fiscal responsibility.

Miner, a labor lawyer, started her career in politics as a regional representative for the late Gov. Mario Cuomo, father of the current governor.

Miner was the first female mayor of any major city in New York.

In 2011, she won 11,820 votes in a race that included Republican Steve Kimatian, Otis Jennings, who ran as a Conservative.

In 2013, Miner won 11,000 votes in 2013 to be mayor of Syracuse over Conservative and Green party candidates. There was no Republican.

Her lieutenant governor running mate was Republican Michael Volpe,the mayor of the village of Pelham, in Westchester County.

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