After expected loss, third-party candidate Hawkins preaches progress
-A version of this story originally appeared on democracywise.syr.edu-
For the 14th time, Howie Hawkins’ bid for public office bit the dust.
Hawkins, the Green Populist for Congress in New York’s 25th U.S. Congressional District, received about 4 percent of the vote, winning 7,922 of 188,167 votes cast for the district. Democrat Dan Maffei was declared the winner at 10:50 p.m., leading with 54 percent of the vote. Republican Dale Sweetland held 43 percent, with Hawkins taking up the rear.
Hawkins continues to battle the third party stigma.
‘There’s perception that since I can’t win, I’m a wasted vote,’ Hawkins said Tuesday night. He held a small party at the Onondaga County Green Party office on South Salina Street in Syracuse. ‘My argument is: If you don’t vote for what you want, you wasted your vote.’
Maffei nearly defeated two-decade Republican incumbent Jim Walsh in the 2006 U.S. Congressional race. With Walsh retiring, Maffei was the favorite for most of the race. The 25th District contains all of Onondaga and Wayne counties, and parts of Cayuga and Monroe counties.
For Hawkins, this election was another chance to push the Green Party agenda. He got the night off from his graveyard-shift job at UPS to hold a gathering at the Green Party’s office. About a dozen supporters came by to talk and eat falafel and wraps. The conversation flowed from French novelist Victor Hugo to conservative radio host Alex Jones to the San Francisco Giants.
Conversation stopped as people leaned forward in their metal folding chairs and squinted at a small television in the corner. Hawkins joined in, hunching over with his hands on his hips.
On the screen, good news blared for the Democrats: Dan Maffei was in the lead, as was Barack Obama.
‘Well, the Democrats have no excuse now,’ Hawkins said. ‘There’s no Republicans to stop them.’
The atmosphere wasn’t gloomy, despite the lack of votes for Hawkins. The result wasn’t a surprise.
Hawkins had little money or organizational support for the campaign. He had raised around $5,400 as of Oct. 24. Meanwhile, Maffei raised more than $2 million, and Sweetland raised more than $365,000, according to campaign finance reports. Hawkins joined the race late, after a Democratic Onondaga County ward chairman challenged Hawkins’ candidacy.
Michael Donnelly, a 34-year-old lawyer from Dewitt, represented Hawkins’ appeal to the New York State Board of Elections.
‘It’s hard to get a lot done without the massive organizations that these other campaigns have,’ Donnelly said. ‘It’s a testament to how much people believe in what we’re for.’
Hawkins first ran for office in 1993. He ran for mayor of Syracuse in 2005, U.S. Senate in 2006 and Syracuse councilor-at-large in 2007. Like this year, he lost.
But Hawkins said he will probably run again in 2009. He mentioned both the mayor’s office and the two open councilor-at-large seats as targets.
‘If we can break through in local election, we’re not the people that can’t win,’ Hawkins said. ‘We’re a bit of an alternative.’
Published on November 4, 2008 at 12:00 pm
