The Green Party candidate for Governor, Howie Hawkins, called on New Yorkers to use their vote to send a message to Albany as he campaigned in Syracuse, Binghamton, and Ithaca on Monday.

"Your vote is important. It counts. It is your statement to whoever is elected Governor about what you want from Albany," Hawkins said.

"If you want New York to ban fracking and build clean energy, fully fund public schools, enact single-payer health care, pass a full public campaign financing bill, and win a $15/hour minimum wage, the Green Party's Hawkins/Jones ticket is the only ticket on the ballot that sends those messages. The bigger the Green vote, the more power we will have fighting for these policies after the election," Hawkins said.

"You can't dissent from the Cuomo agenda by voting for Cuomo," Hawkins added. "Don't fall for the silly claim that you can vote for Cuomo on another line to send a message of opposition to his policies. A vote for Cuomo on any ballot line affirms his conservative record and strengthens his mandate to continue those policies."

"A vote for Cuomo on the Working Families line doesn't miraculously turn him into a champion of the working class he has been attacking for four years. A vote for Cuomo on the Independence line doesn't make him independent of the 331 fat cats who gave him $22 million for his campaign. A vote for Cuomo on the Women's Equality line doesn't suddenly make him an advocate for policies to support working women that he has opposed, like paid family leave and a $15 an hour minimum wage," Hawkins said.

Hawkins also noted that Cuomo could have gotten nine of the ten Women's Equality Act items passed in either of the last two legislative sessions if he had not insisted on the nine being linked to the tenth concerning reproductive rights. The nine items address pay equity, anti-discrimination, and human trafficking. Hawkins said this year's election could have put the anti-abortion state Senators on the spot in the election, instead of giving them the ability to deflect criticism of their anti-choice position by affirming their support for nine-tenths of the Women's Equality Act. Most of the opponents of the tenth pro-choice item are Republicans, but Cuomo has not fulfilled his promise to the Working Families Party in exchange for their endorsement to campaign for a Democratic majority Senate.

"The only place for progressive voters who want women's equality and economic security for working people, who want to free Albany of the corrupting influence of big money donors, the only place on the ballot for the 99% of New Yorkers who are poor, working class, and middle class, is to vote their values by voting for the Hawkins/Jones ticket," Hawkins said