# Senator Dianne Wilkerson LOSES Senate Seat



## Guest (Sep 17, 2008)

http://www.boston.com/news/local/breaking_news/2008/09/changdiaz_beats.html?p1=Well_MostPop_Emailed2

*Chang-Diaz beats Wilkerson in state Senate primary*

September 16, 2008 09:11 PM

By John Drake, Globe Staff

In a huge upset, Sonia Chang-Diaz defeated incumbent state Senator Dianne Wilkerson today by a margin of 9,051 to 8,849, according to an unofficial tally provided by city officials. The defeat ends Wilkerson's 15 years in office in the Senate seat representing Boston.

The primary was a rematch between Wilkerson and Chang-Diaz who squared off in the 2006 primary election. Wilkerson edged Chang-Diaz by six percent in that race after the incumbent senator was forced to wage a write-in campaign because she failed to file enough signatures to qualify for the ballot.

Wilkerson, the state Senate's lone African-American member, had urged constituents to remember her long record of service on issues like gay rights, racial-profiling, and predatory lending. She commanded strong support from top politicians including Governor Deval Patrick and Mayor Thomas M. Menino who recorded messages of support sent to voters in automated phone calls and played on black radio stations. The gay-rights group MassEquality and local 509 of the Service Employees International Union urged voters to support the longtime senator and worked the polls today.

Voters who chose Chang-Diaz said that while they mostly agreed with Wilkerson on the issues, they could not forgive her ethical transgressions, and were ready to give someone else a chance.

"It wasn't just a one-time incident; it was a pattern over time," said Dora Golding, a 33-year-old Jamaica Plain resident who voted at English High School. "I think she's been an effective state senator and probably in the next term would be more effective because of the experience and connections (but) I felt that we don't have to settle for that. It's time to give a new voice a chance."

In August, Wilkerson paid a $10,000 fine to the state attorney general and acknowledged campaign finance violations dating back to 2000, related to improper reimbursements of campaign contributions to herself and failing to report some contributions. She also once faced foreclosure proceedings on her home, which she was able to stop, and faced a federal income tax investigation, in which she pleaded guilty to four misdemeanors and served 30 days in a halfway house.


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## Guest (Sep 17, 2008)

Jeepy said:


> Wilkerson, the state Senate's lone African-American member, had urged constituents to remember her long record of service on issues like gay rights, racial-profiling, and predatory lending.


Not to mention her long record of tax evasion.


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## pahapoika (Nov 5, 2006)

wow. thought they'd need dynamite to get her out.

she was off the hook


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## Guest (Sep 17, 2008)

Good riddance to this piece of crap, Wilkerson.


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## HousingCop (May 14, 2004)

*Who's taking odds on how quick Dianne Wilkerson wil skulk into the Patrick administration after a nationwide job search? My money is on some obscure position at a Communi-Tay College where she'll rake in big bucks to pad her pension. *

*If it was anybody else, we'd have been foreclosed upon, indicted and sent to a federal prison for years instead of a paltry 30 days. She's been a disgrace. A pure and utter hypocritical disgrace to her district. *


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## Guest (Sep 17, 2008)

HousingCop said:


> *Who's taking odds on how quick Dianne Wilkerson wil skulk into the Patrick administration after a nationwide job search? My money is on some obscure position at a Communi-Tay College where she'll rake in big bucks to pad her pension.*


I wouldn't take that bet either way because while it will certainly be tempting for Deval to do that, such a shameless maneuver to take care of a convicted felon hack wouldn't play well if Obamessiah wins and Deval is considered for a cabinet position.

The real question on odds is what's the over/under for how long it will take for the Board of Bar Overseers to reinstate Wilkerson's license to practice law? The "Definite Term" suspension will no doubt end shortly before the next legislative session convenes;

http://massbbo.org/bbolookup.php?sl=Wilkerson&sf=&sc=&soundex=&hit=1


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## soxrock75 (Jul 26, 2004)

Jeepy said:


> Wilkerson, the state Senate's lone African-American member, had urged constituents to remember her long record of service on issues like gay rights, racial-profiling, and predatory lending.


Racial Profiling??? Wasn't her defense to Tax Evasion charges that she had to spend her money on a new security system and bodyguards because she was getting death threats from South Boston? This defense turned out ot be a complete LIE and she got nailed on the tax charges.

Typical Democrat - blame someone else. Good Riddance!!!


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## GeepNutt (Aug 10, 2005)

Executive Director of the newly formed "Massachusett's Department of Flaggers Oversight Committe"...... #-o


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## Truck Trooper (Jan 29, 2008)

She's turning her life around, she's learned from her mistakes. She will have to pay taxes now. "YEAH RIGHT".


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## Killjoy (Jun 23, 2003)

> If it was anybody else, we'd have been foreclosed upon, indicted and sent to a federal prison for years instead of a paltry 30 days. She's been a disgrace. A pure and utter hypocritical disgrace to her district.


Absolutely true. The media likes to make noise about "government wastage", and yet they ignore this living symbol of it. She has milked the system, stolen money, failed to bpay taxes and used her position to bully and intimidate others. And yet because her political views are "acceptable" to the liberal media, they ignore her crimes and paint her as some kind of saint. Sound familiar?


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