Second Suffolk Senate race Wilkerson’s to lose

Yawu Miller

First came the news that state Sen. Dianne Wilkerson failed to submit sufficient signatures to qualify for the ballot in the September primary, forcing her to mount a sticker campaign.

Things seemed a bit worse when her Republican challenger, Samiyah Diaz, announced she would run her own sticker campaign in the Democratic primary, crossing party lines to take Wilkerson on.

But when Democratic activist Sonia Chang-Diaz announced she was planning a sticker campaign in the Democratic primary, Wilkerson’s luck seemed to have at last taken a turn for the better. She now faces two newcomer candidates who share a first initial and last name — a development that led the Jamaica Plain Gazette to speculate whether Chang-Diaz was a straw candidate.

With a well-oiled campaign apparatus Wilkerson should be able to win handily, according to political activist Luis Elisa, who notes that she has mobilized her machinery in service of President Bill Clinton, Senator John Kerry and gubernatorial candidate Shannon O’Brien.

“She’s put people on the ground in all the precincts in the district,” he said. “She can do that and I know she will.”

In this year’s race for the Second Suffolk District, Wilkerson is running against herself as much as her two challengers. When the news media announced last month that she failed to garner the requisite 300 signatures for this year’s ballot, many constituents and former supporters voiced frustration with a growing list of Wilkerson’s missteps.

In 1997, Wilkerson was sentenced to six months’ house arrest after pleading guilty to tax charges stemming from missing tax-filing deadlines four years in a row. The next year, she was hit with a fine for campaign finance irregularities.

This year, Wilkerson is again battling campaign finance irregularities, this time a lawsuit filed by Attorney General Thomas Reilly.

Her challengers both cite Wilkerson’s financial, legal and political missteps as an impetus behind their own decisions to run.

“My frustration over the current standard of leadership has risen gradually,” said Chang-Diaz. “[Wilkerson not submitting] the signatures was the turning point.”

Samiyah Diaz casts Wilkerson’s failure to submit signatures as an opportunity to reach into her base.

“I felt it was important to get the Democrats behind me in the race,” she said. “Running as a Republican, people may look at the title and not pay attention. I’m reaching out to them early on.”

Chang-Diaz, who has worked on political campaigns, has been developing a base of support in her Jamaica Plain neighborhood. In a symbolic show of political muscle, she collected 500 signatures of supporters for her candidacy.

“I wanted to respect the process, respect the voters,” she commented.

Because no candidate has qualified for the ballot in the Second Suffolk District, no name will appear on the ballot in the September primary. Voters will have to affix stickers on the ballot to cast a vote for any of the three candidates running.

To effectively compete against Wilkerson, who will likely have every precinct covered, challengers will have to station supporters at dozens of polling stations in the district.

“It will take organization to win a sticker campaign,” Elisa said. “You need to cover all the precincts. You have to have people passing out stickers. You have to educate the people how to use the stickers.”

The frustration with Wilkerson’s missteps may dampen enthusiasm for her campaign in the black community, but will not pave the way for her challengers, who may split any opposition vote, according to Elisa.

“If the voters didn’t walk away after the tax stuff, they’re not walking away now,” he said. “They know she’s representing their issues.”