AP: October 18, 2018

Green Party nominee Howie Hawkins, who placed third in the 2016 election, called Cuomo “cowardly” for refusing to debate. He held a mock debate earlier this week with a man dressed as a chicken to make his point.

“Democracy suffers when incumbents hide their positions from the media and public and instead rely on massive donations from special interests to blanket the air-waves with promotional ads,” Hawkins said....

A head-to-head poll released Thursday by Quinnipiac University suggests Cuomo is leading Molinaro 58-35 percentage points. The survey did not include Hawkins, Libertarian Larry Sharpe or former Syracuse Mayor Stephanie Miner, an independent.

Socialist Alternative NYC: October 18, 2018

Next month, millions of New Yorkers will head to the polls hoping to defeat Republicans and open the door to progressive change in the state. But if we are going to win bold change in Albany, it will require a massive struggle against Governor Andrew Cuomo and his big business backers. That’s why Socialist Alternative urges people to not vote for Cuomo. Instead, we encourage people to register a protest in the election by voting for Howie Hawkins.

Reason: October 18, 2018

As recently as late September, Nixon had been polling at 10 percent as a WFP candidate, so surely Quinnipiac would be interested to see whether Nixon's anti-Cuomo base was grudgingly following the party line, or transferring to Green Party candidate Howie Hawkins (who received 4.8 percent of the vote in 2014), or shifting to the energetic and media-savvy Libertarian Larry Sharpe, or even to independent update pol Stephanie Miner? Nope, respondents were presented with the woefully inaccurate premise that the choice in this overwhelmingly blue state is between the unlovable Cuomo and a largely invisible Republican named Marc Molinaro.

That isn't science. That's propaganda.

Sharpe paid for his own poll last week, showing the headline race at 48 percent to 25 percent, followed by him with 13 percent, Miner with 8 and Hawkins with 6. (In sharp contrast, the Siena College poll with Nixon at 10 percent had Sharpe with just 2 percent, Miner with 1 percent, and Hawkins with zero.)

But the point is, independent polling agencies and their media partners who tell you that they're providing accurate nonpartisan analysis of the New York gubernatorial race—and scores of other electoral contests from coast to coast—are flat-out lying. Journalists and political scientiests should be independent checks on power, not handmaidens to it.

Utica Observer-Dispatch: October 18, 2018

We understand that Cuomo’s refusal to debate Molinaro and the three third-party opponents is typical political strategy. With a $9.2 million war chest (Molinaro at last report had only $210,000 in cash on hand; Miner had $55,000; Hawkins, $31,000, and Sharpe, $24,000) and a huge lead in the polls (50 percent to 28 percent in an Oct. 1 Siena College poll), he has little to gain with a debate.

But the voters do. And isn’t that what it’s supposed to be about?

Greenpoint Star: October 17, 2018

It was a week of ducking political foes for two of New York's most powerful politicians, or as one opponent of Governor Andrew Cuomo put it, chickening out.

The Green Party candidate for governor is doing his best to goad Cuomo into a debate before Election Day by staging fake debates with a Cuomo impersonator and a man dressed as a chicken.

With the chicken (played by James Lane, a former Green Party candidate for public advocate) squawking soundbites like “Debates Are Fowl!,” “Read My Beak! No Debates!,” and “Debates? Kiss My Eggs!,” Hawkins instead debates a Fake Cuomo played by Randy Credico.

Hawkins is calling for four debates in four cities on four topics: the economy, government reform, climate and the environment, and social problems.

The Independent Left Must Oppose Islamophobia

Statement of the New York City ISO

Socialist Worker: October 17, 2018

Looking Back on an Endorsement Debate

By Danny Katch

Socialist Worker: October 18, 2018

We Can Critically Support Independent Candidates

By Lance Selfa

Socialist Worker: October 22, 2018

Questions About Endorsing We Needed To Ask

By Sofia Arias

Socialist Worker: November 8, 2018

Citing war in Syria, ISO withdraws endorsement of Green Party gubernatorial candidate in New York

By Sandy English

World Socialist Web Site: November 8, 2018

A missed chance to support a real alternative

By Howie Hawkins

Socialist Worker: November 20, 2018

What matters in our endorsement debate

By Jen Roesch

Socialist Worker: November 21, 2018

On the ISO’s refusal to endorse Howie Hawkin’s campaign

By Louis Proyect

The Unrepentant Marxist: November 23, 2018

New Politics: October 16, 2018

We are the abolitionists of today, standing for the abolition of racism, sexism, and capitalism, for reversing climate change and ending imperialist wars. Through our social movements and our support for socialist and radical progressive candidates in the Democratic Party, we contribute to dividing that party and eventually breaking it up so that its left can become free. At the same time, we must support candidates outside the Democrats who represent our socialist alternative. We need to do both of these at once. And that’s where Howie Hawkins of the Green Party comes in.

Howie Hawkins, for many years a truck driver and Teamsters union member, is an open socialist running for governor against Andrew Cuomo on the Green Party ticket. Howie has run for governor before, winning 5 percent of the vote in 2012, an achievement that maintained the Green Party ballot line. While the Green Party remains a small, progressive party that receives only a small percentage of the vote in national elections, its party platform—focused on the environment, peace, democracy and economic justice—is far to the left of the Democrats. Howie himself, a member of the socialist group Solidarity, stands for the abolition of capitalism and the creation of a democratic socialist society.

Albany Times Union: October 16, 2018

To not debate sends a message that elections are, for Mr. Cuomo, about nothing more than the power of big money, something he has said he wants to diminish in politics. At last report, Mr. Cuomo had 29 times more money in his campaign accounts than his four challengers combined — $9.2 million compared with Republican Marcus Molinaro's $210,000; Serve America Movement's Stephanie Miner's $55,000; the Green Party's Howie Hawkins' $31,000, and Libertarian Larry Sharpe's $24,000. With that kind of lopsided wealth, Mr. Cuomo can simply drown out what little advertising his opponents can afford.

Albany Times Union: October 15, 2018

Green Party candidate Howie Hawkins, who was part of the four-way gubernatorial debate in 2014 and collected 184,419 votes, proposed four regional debates addressing the economy, government reform, the environment and social policy.

He wants media and civic organizations to organize debates without a guarantee that the governor will attend. "If Cuomo doesn't come, there would be four of us criticizing his record and his absence would speak for itself," he said in a written statement.

"It's getting late," Hawkins said this week. "Voters should be worried that Cuomo thinks he's satisfied his one debate quota with his Democratic primary debate with Nixon."

Glens Falls Post-Star: October 14, 2018

“We need a World War II scale mobilization,” Green Party gubernatorial candidate Howie Hawkins told us this past week.