There’s an election coming up sooner than you think.

Nov. 3 will mark the 2015 Onondaga County general election, where local politicians, including County Executive Joanie Mahoney and various Syracuse Common Councilors, will be on the ballot. This election is not only big for the county and Syracuse city government, but it could be a turning point for another political party.

Here’s a hint: it’s not the Republicans. The city of Syracuse is primarily Democratic, and its liberal affiliation is not bound to change anytime soon. In the near absence of the Republican Party, the Green Party could be a viable challenger to the Democrats.

Earlier this week, city auditor candidate and Green Party member Howie Hawkins was officially endorsed by three former Democratic city officials, including a former deputy city auditor. Hawkins is one of five Green Party candidates running in the November election, according to the Onondaga County Board of Elections candidates list, which was posted on October 16.

But despite the Green Party’s stronger presence in Syracuse politics than on a national scale, it still has one major hurdle to climb: why should voters trust the party, anyway? Its largest challenge will be convincing the people of Syracuse to change their party loyalty.

That reason to vote Green is on paper, officially. In regard to the city auditor race, Hawkins believes that Democratic incumbent Marty Masterpole is doing less than the bare minimum of annual audits required in office. Hawkins’ platform states that he plans to focus on the school districts and explains why the Syracuse community would benefit from his fiscal supervision.

Hawkins sounds like a typical candidate: he points out flaws in how his competition does the job, tells voters how he’d do it instead and lets them decide if that’s what they want. But beyond the issues, voters need to take the active effort to switch their ballot from a Democratic vote to a Green one.

Howie Hawkins is also a particular case of its own. He has been a Green Party candidate in over 20 New York local and statewide elections. Last year, Hawkins appeared on the Green ticket across New York state in the gubernatorial race, winning almost 5 percent of the vote.  

And despite the benefit of a reasonably popular candidate, the Green Party has enough fodder to challenge the Democratic incumbents. A report issued in early September cited Syracuse as the city with the highest rate of extreme poverty among blacks and Hispanics in the nation.

Meanwhile, the Syracuse City School District is attempting to find a solution to some of its worst performing schools while Superintendent Sharon Contreras is under fire and waiting to have her contract renewed at the end of the school year.

These issues can be used to remind voters that there are more options other than Democrats, though that won’t change much unless the Green Party works to distinguish itself. The Democratic Party’s experience in city government can give a reliable estimate of what it will do in power, while a Green vote comes off as an uncertain wild card.

In addition to selling the candidate, the Green Party hopeful must focus on selling the party in context of the issues in the upcoming election.

Refusing to address why the Green Party is still unpopular will maintain an obscure and detached reputation in relation to city government. For this reason, Green Party candidates must answer “why” before they can begin to answer “how.”

Keely Sullivan is a senior broadcast and digital journalism and French dual major. Her column appears weekly. She can be reached at kasull02@syr.edu and followed on Twitter @specialksully.

Published on October 22, 2015 at 12:51 am