Wilkerson fights to keep Senate seat

Yawu Miller

State Sen. Dianne Wilkerson failed to submit the needed 300 signatures to obtain a spot on the ballot for the September primary, according to officials at the city’s Election Department.

Although her campaign turned in 491 signatures, only 263 of them were deemed valid by the Election Department. State law requires that Senate candidates turn in at least 300 signatures of registered voters before their names appear on the printed ballots used in primary elections.

Candidates for state office must prevail in either the Republican or Democratic primaries in order to appear on the November ballot. Wilkerson, therefore, will have to wage a sticker campaign in the Democratic primary to regain her seat.

Wilkerson did not respond to a request for an interview, but sent out a press statement saying she is requesting a review.

“Sometimes signatures are ineligible,” the statement read. “Other times clarification is needed around a person’s voting address. If, however, after a careful review it is still determined that I remain short the number of signatures necessary to enable my name to be on the ballot in November, I intend to wage a vigorous sticker campaign to retain my Senate seat.”

While Wilkerson is the sole Democrat officially in the race, her blunder has left her open to a challenge for the Democratic nomination. Samiyah Diaz, who running on the Republican ticket, may challenge Wilkerson in the primary, waging her own sticker campaign, according to the Globe.

The challenge is not the first for Wilkerson, who easily fended off candidate Caleb Desrosiers in a 1997 race after she was placed under house arrest for failing to file income tax returns for four years in the ’90s.

This time around, Wilkerson will likely prevail, again, according to political activist Louis Elisa.

“The community will support her,” he said. “She’s done a good job for them. She’s very effective. There’s no black person who’s going to represent that district better than her.”

Wilkerson is often able to assemble formidable campaign operations, one of which supported presidential candidate John Kerry in the 2004 presidential election. But her organization’s inability to gather valid signatures points to weaknesses in her organization.

The work of gathering signatures is often handled by legislative staff members. Wilkerson’s office, which has lost five staff members in the last year, is notorious for its high turnover.

“It’s a challenging job,” said one former staff member. “The hours are long. The needs of the district are great. The staff is driven to work longer and harder than most. Add to that the fact that the Senator is a hard worker and a perfectionist, and the problem is compounded.”

Elisa agreed that Wilkerson’s attention may have been diverted from the task of gathering signatures.

“She got comfortable and she got careless,” he said. “This is totally unlike her. She’s a conscientious campaigner. But when you try to do too much, you have to leave a lot up to campaigners who are supposed to take care of this.