Howie Hawkins has run and lost campaigns for public office 13 times in the past 14 years.
His losing streak continued Tuesday, when he failed to win a seat on the Syracuse Common Council as an at-large councilor. But he downplayed disappointment in the results.
“This is what I thought would happen,” Hawkins said. “The people coming out to vote were regular party voters.”
With 100 percent of the vote in the unofficial count Tuesday night, Hawkins had districts reporting, Hawkins received 1,579 votes (four percent). In other results, according to News10Now, the two incumbent Democrats were re-elected to the two seats to be filled. Those winning Democrats are Bill Ryan, with 15,672 (42 percent) and Kathleen Joy with 12,877 (35 percent). The other losing candidates are Republican Bill Harper with 5,956 votes (16 percent) and Conservative Bob Teachout with 974 votes (3 percent).
Tuesday night, Hawkins spent time with about a dozen Green Party members at the party’s office on South Salina Street. His supporters milled around the office, eating from a vegetable tray and taking about the election as results were broadcast.
The Green Party has a loyal following, Hawkins said. But the party’s challenge is getting votes from people who normally vote straight Democratic or Republican tickets, he said.
“Our supporters are important,” Hawkins said. “But we need those other voters.”
The Green Party is listed at the bottom of this year’s ballot. Ballot placement makes a difference in voting, Hawkins said. “I’m way down at the bottom,” he said. “It’s like they put me down there because they think I’m not important or can’t win.”
At the polls Tuesday, conversations with voters indicated that some people had trouble locating Hawkins on the ballot.
Tutor Betsy Holley, 37, described herself as a “pee-in-your-pants liberal.” She voted a straight Democratic ticket Tuesday. But, she said, she meant to vote for Hawkins. “I didn’t see him on the ballot,” Holley said. “I remembered I was going to vote for Howie as soon as I pulled the lever on the machine!”
But some voters made sure to find Hawkins before completing their ballots.
Ken Hine, a 73-year-old professor in Syracuse University’s College of Visual and Performing Arts, stayed loyal to Hawkins. He always votes for Hawkins, he said. “He’s done more for us than anyone else locally,” Hine said.
Even though he did not win a Common Council seat, Hawkins said he will remain active in local politics. He has no specific plans about running another campaign for public office. He wants to keep working on reducing the poverty level in Syracuse and creating a publicly-owned power company, he said.
Tuesday’s election results do show progress for the Green Party, Hawkins said. “It shows what we have to do next,” he said. “We’ve got to keep plugging away and reaching out to more people.”
(Katie Walsh is a senior newspaper major.)
-30-
