Howie Hawkins 2020 presidential campaign

The 2020 U.S. presidential campaign of Howie Hawkins, both the co-founder of the Green Party and thrice its gubernatorial candidate in New York, was informally launched on April 3, 2019, when Hawkins announced the formation of an exploratory committee and formally announced his campaign on May 28, 2019, to seek the Green Party nomination for the presidency of the United States in the 2020 presidential election and later the Socialist Party USA.[2][3] Hawkins is also running for the nomination of the Peace and Freedom Party, Oregon Progressive Party, United Citizens Party, Liberty Union Party, and the Vermont Progressive Party.[4]

Howie Hawkins 2020 presidential campaign
Campaign2020 presidential election
(Green; Peace and Freedom)
Candidate
AffiliationGreen Party
Socialist Party
Status
  • Formed exploratory committee: April 3, 2019
  • Announced: May 28, 2019
  • Official Socialist nominee: October 26, 2019
  • Official Green nominee: July 11, 2020
HeadquartersSyracuse, New York
ReceiptsUS$218,523.55[1]
Slogan"For an Ecosocialist Green New Deal"
Website
howiehawkins.us
This article is part of a series about
Howie Hawkins
Gubernational campaigns
Presidential campaign
Political party affiliations

On May 5, 2020, Hawkins announced that former Socialist Party USA vice presidential candidate Angela Nicole Walker would be his running mate.[5][6] Hawkins and Walker were nominated by the Green Party on July 11, 2020.

Background

In the 1980s, Hawkins joined the green movement. In 1988, Howie and Murray Bookchin founded the Left Green Network "as a radical alternative to U.S. Green liberals", based around the principles of social ecology and libertarian municipalism.[7] In the early 1990s a press conference was held in Washington, D.C., that featured Charles Betz, Joni Whitmore, Hilda Mason, and Howie Hawkins to announce the formation of the Greens/Green Party USA.[8] Later in December 1999, Mike Feinstein and Hawkins wrote the Plan for a Single National Green Party which was the plan to organize the ASGP and GPUSA into a single Green Party.[9] Over the next decade he would run in multiple New York Senate and House races.[10]

In the 2010 New York gubernatorial election Hawkins surpassed the 50,000-vote requirement to stay on the ballot in the gubernatorial election. In the 2014 election, he received enough to move the Green Party line to Row D on the ballot as he had taken one-third more than the Working Families Party and twice as much as the Independence Party.[11] In the 2018 election, Hawkins received 80,000 fewer votes than he did in his 2014 run. As a result the party was lowered one row down to Row E, but retained ballot access.[12]

In 2012, Hawkins was approached over the possibility of running for the Green Party presidential nomination. He declined due to his employment commitments at UPS, which he maintained would interfere with a national campaign.[13]

Following his retirement from UPS, Hawkins was approached again to run by a draft movement via a public letter addressed to him. The letter was signed by former Green vice presidential nominees Cheri Honkala and Ajamu Baraka, former Green mayoral candidate and Nader's 2008 running mate Matt Gonzalez, and other prominent Green Party members.[14]

Campaign

On April 3, 2019, Hawkins announced that he was forming an exploratory committee to prepare for a potential candidacy for the Green Party 2020 presidential nomination and later Hawkins formally launched his campaign on May 28, 2019, in Brooklyn, New York.[15][16][17]

On October 26, 2019, Hawkins won the nomination of the Socialist Party USA as part of his effort to unite smaller left-wing parties.[18] In November, Hawkins was endorsed by Solidarity.[19] On July 11, he received the Green Party's presidential nomination at the party's virtual convention.[20]

Ballot access

On May 28, 2020, the Green Party of Rhode Island announced that it would not place a presidential candidate onto the ballot for the first time since 1996 citing the danger of Donald Trump winning reelection.[21][22] Hawkins later announced that he would petition as an independent candidate under the partisan label "Independent Left" in Rhode Island.[23]

On July 15, Hawkins sued Oklahoma due to its $35,000 filing fee for president.[24]

Hawkins' presidential petition in Wisconsin was challenged in August under the basis that Walker had changed her residence address within South Carolina.[25]

Fundraising

On August 23, 2019, the Hawkins campaign announced they had met the requisite federal matching funds for California and New York.[26] The campaign must receive $5,000 from residents, with no more than $250 counted for each contribution, in at least 20 states to qualify for the funds. Only his campaign and Steve Bullock's applied for primary season matching funds.[27]

On July 9, 2020, the Hawkins campaign announced they achieved federal matching fund requirements in 20 necessary states, claiming they had raised $220,000 from 4,000 donors in over 7,000 total contributions[28].

Political positions

Climate change

Hawkins supports the Green Party's version of the Green New Deal that would serve as a transitional plan to a one hundred percent clean, renewable energy by 2030 utilizing a carbon tax, jobs guarantee, free college, single-payer healthcare and a focus on using public programs.[29][30][31]

He is a critic of the Democratic version of the Green New Deal written by Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, stating that "unfortunately, they took the brand but watered down the content".[32]

Democratic Party reform

Hawkins disagrees with the "party-within-the-party" approach to the Democratic Party advocated by organizations such as the Democratic Socialists of America or by individuals such as Bernie Sanders.[33] Instead, he believes that socialists should build up an independent Left party.[33]

Participatory democracy

Hawkins advocates for expansion of town meetings, expanding their powers to enact legislation and granting them the power to recall representatives.[34]

Medicare for All

Hawkins views health care as a human right and a public good. His plan is to implement a single-payer National Health Insurance in which health care facilities are publicly owned, healthcare workers are salaried, and the system is governed by community boards elected by the public (two-thirds of the seats) and health care workers (one-third of the seats).

The system will be funded by allocating current public healthcare dollars (about 70% of current spending) to the system. The rest of the funding would come from progressive taxes on individuals/families, both earned and unearned income, who earn more than 150% of the adjusted Federal Poverty Level and on large corporations.[35]

Endorsements
Main article: List of Howie Hawkins 2020 presidential campaign endorsements

Controversies

Dispute with Gloria LaRiva

On February 20, 2020, Hawkins published a statement critical of his opponent in the Peace and Freedom Party nomination primary, Gloria LaRiva, alleging that she supported "a 'safe strategy' of supporting Bernie Sanders in the 'battleground' states" and stating "you didn't join the Peace and Freedom Party to support Democrats."[36] LaRiva responded stating that it was "not an honest critique" and "[f]or Hawkins to further imply that he is the stronger supporter of Peace and Freedom is not convincing."[37] LaRiva won the Peace and Freedom Party's only primary contest in California, receiving 67% to Hawkins' 33%.[38]

Dispute with Dario Hunter

After the 2020 Green Party Nominating Convention named Hawkins as their presidential candidate, Dario Hunter, trailing far behind Hawkins with the second most contests in the Green primaries, announced via Twitter that he would continue to pursue the presidency as an independent candidate. Hunter claimed that irregularities and undemocratic processes occurred throughout the Green Party presidential primary.[39]

References
  1. "HAWKINS, HOWIE - Candidate overview". FEC.gov.
  2. "Howie Hawkins, Syracuse resident, exploring run for Green Party presidential nod". Archived from the original on 2019-04-03. Retrieved 2019-04-03.
  3. "Howie Hawkins, Syracuse resident, exploring run for Green Party presidential nod". Archived from the original on 2019-05-29. Retrieved 2019-05-29.
  4. "Howie Hawkins Wins Socialist Party USA Nomination, Green Candidate Seeks To Build Left Unity With Multiple Nominations". Howie Hawkins for President. 28 October 2019. Retrieved 5 December 2019.
  5. "Angela Walker for Vice President!". May 5, 2020.
  6. Saturn, William (May 5, 2020). "Howie Hawkins Announces Running Mate".
  7. Biehl, Janet (22 March 2015). "The Left Green Network (1988–91)". Ecology or Catastrophe. Retrieved 16 November 2019.
  8. "Official Formation of the Green Party-USA". Archived from the original on 2016-10-19. Retrieved 2020-01-17.
  9. "The Greens/Green Party USA". Archived from the original on 2017-08-10.
  10. "0-for-23: An Undeterred Green Party Candidate on His Long Losing Streak". Archived from the original on 2019-04-26.
  11. "Third party's profile rises". Archived from the original on 2018-11-18.
  12. "Howie Hawkins wins enough votes to keep Green Party status in NY". Archived from the original on 2019-04-12.
  13. "Why is Syracuse's Howie Hawkins running for president? 'It's hard to say no'". Archived from the original on 2019-04-10.
  14. "Sign On: Greens And Allies Urge Howie Hawkins To Seek Presidential Nomination". Archived from the original on 2019-04-02.
  15. robert.harding@lee.net, Robert Harding. "Howie Hawkins, Syracuse resident, exploring run for Green Party presidential nod". Auburn Citizen. Retrieved April 3, 2019.
  16. "Howie Hawkins for President Exploratory Committee – A Green Ecosocialist for President". March 29, 2019. Retrieved April 3, 2019.
  17. "Howie Hawkins will seek Green nomination for president". Times Union. May 28, 2019. Retrieved June 7, 2019.
  18. "Howie Hawkins wins Socialist Party USA nomination for 2020 presidential race". Archived from the original on 2019-11-04. Retrieved 2019-10-28.
  19. "Howie Hawkins for President". Solidarity.
  20. "Syracuse's Howie Hawkins is the Green Party's presidential candidate". Syracuse. July 11, 2020. Archived from the original on August 15, 2020.
  21. "R.I. Green Party won't run a presidential candidate". Uprise Rhode Island. May 29, 2020. Archived from the original on August 15, 2020.
  22. @RIGreens (May 28, 2020). "Green Party of Rhode Island won't run candidate" (Tweet). Archived from the original on August 2, 2020 – via Twitter.
  23. "Howie Hawkins Will Petition in Rhode Island With Partisan Label "Independent Left"". Ballot Access News. June 28, 2020. Archived from the original on August 15, 2020.
  24. "Howie Hawkins Files Federal Lawsuit Against Amount of Oklahoma Presidential Filing Fee". Ballot Access News. July 16, 2020. Archived from the original on August 15, 2020.
  25. "Howie Hawkins' Wisconsin Petition is Challenged". Ballot Access News. August 7, 2020. Archived from the original on August 15, 2020.
  26. Hawkins, Howie [@HowieHawkins20] (23 August 2019). "Thank you, @cagreenparty" (Tweet). Retrieved 26 August 2019 – via Twitter.
  27. "Montana Governor Steve Bullock Will Apply for Primary Season Matching Funds". Archived from the original on 2019-10-02. Retrieved 2019-09-30.
  28. "Hawkins/Walker Campaign Achieves Federal Matching Funds". Howie Hawkins 2020. July 9, 2020. Retrieved July 9, 2020.
  29. "Sorry Democrats, the Green Party Came Up With the Green New Deal!". The New Republic. Archived from the original on 2019-04-16.
  30. "The Democrats Stole the Green Party's Best Idea". Archived from the original on 2019-04-16.
  31. "The 'Green New Deal' isn't really that new". Archived from the original on 2019-04-16.
  32. "The 'Green New Deal' isn't really that new". Archived from the original on 2019-05-29.
  33. Hawkins, Howie. "The case for an independent Left party". International Socialist Review. Retrieved 17 November 2019.
  34. "Perspectives and Policies". Howie Hawkins for President. 3 April 2019. Retrieved 6 May 2020.
  35. "Medicare for All". Howie Hawkins for President. Retrieved 2 July 2020.
  36. "Howie Hawkins: You didn't join the Peace and Freedom Party to support Democrats". PSL. Retrieved May 27, 2020.
  37. "Gloria La Riva: Howie Hawkins's critique of PSL's critical support for Sanders campaign "not honest"". PSL. Retrieved Mar 17, 2020.
  38. "President Peace and Freedom". CA Sec. of State. Archived from the original on 5 March 2020.
  39. "Special announcement from the Hunter/Elias 2020 campaign". Twitter. Retrieved July 12, 2020.
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