Hawkins for Auditor

New York needs full public campaign financing, not Cuomo's proposed matching funds system of partial public campaign financing.

Hawkins Says Cuomo's Campaign Finance Reform Proposal Not Real Reform

"The partial public campaign financing system of matching funds advanced by Governor Cuomo provides the illusion of change while maintaining the ability of the 1% to buy the candidates. Cuomo's matching funds system provides limited public campaign financing alongside unlimited private financing. It does not level the playing field for all candidates or significantly restrict the ability of special interests to ensure that the two corporate parties continue to do their bidding at the expense of the 99%. The hundreds of donors who have given more than $40,000 to Cuomo's election coffers won't be losing much sleep over his proposal," said Howie Hawkins, who finished third out of seven gubernatorial candidates three years ago. Hawkins, a Teamster from Syracuse, is again seeking the Green Party nomination for Governor.

Hawkins points to the recent Mayoral election in NYC as evidence for how large donors still dominate under a partial public campaign finance system, especially for the most powerful positions. Hawkins and the Green Party have long advocated a full public campaign financing system such as Arizona and Maine have adopted. The Greens also support the We, The People Amendment to the U.S. Constitution to establish that money is property, not speech, and that the public may fully regulate campaign financing.