The Green Party candidate for governor, Howie Hawkins, says he’s not going away now that elections are over, and intends to continue to draw attention to issues like raising the minimum wage and build his party.
Hawkins says the Greens, who were the only party to gain voters in the elections, intends to build their membership in the coming months. Hawkins says 70% of voters did not bother coming to the polls, and he sees potential in the disaffected electorate.
“Those are the future Green voters,” Hawkins said. “That’s the way we’re looking at it.”
Hawkins says in the days ahead he plans to hold demonstrations and write letters to the editor on topics like raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour, and banning hydrofracking, as well as curbing further expansion of charter schools.
Unlike most of New York’s other third parties, the Greens do not cross endorse major party candidates and run their own slate of candidates. Hawkins says he hopes to have more Greens on the ballot in local elections in 2015.