New York state’s low-profile Green Party scored big in Tuesday’s election, even though its candidate for governor was never in contention. Green Party candidate Howie Hawkins grabbed just 5 percent of the vote — but that was more than any other minor party except for the Conservatives. As a result, the Greens moved from the sixth spot on the ballot to fourth for the next four years. That’s important because voters won’t have to search so hard to find their candidate, said political analyst Hank Sheinkopf. “The ballot-line order impacts the voters because the further away you are from Republicans and Democrats, the lower probability you’re going to be found unless you are a dedicated voter following the ideology of that party,” he said. With about 85 percent of election districts counted, the Greens had 157,014 votes compared to 196,504 for Conservatives. The Working Families Party had 106,340 and the Independence Party grabbed 60,788. Gov. Cuomo’s Women’s Equality Party amassed 44,651. Hawkins said Tuesday night that his party intends to press its agenda — including pressuring legislators to ban fracking. “We will run more and more local candidates, building the party even stronger — from the grass roots up. And if Cuomo opens New York to hydrofracking — as we expect he will — we will demand that the Legislature ban fracking and run candidates against legislators who don’t vote for the ban,” Hawkins said. Left-leaning Democratic voters upset with Cuomo formed the base of support for Hawkins. He was a particular favorite with dissidents who had backed Fordham law professor Zephyr Teachout in September’s Democratic primary.
Posted on: Wed, 05 Nov 2014 17:20:00 +0000
Trending Topics
© 2015