The recount having been completed (or close enough), Sonia Chang-Diaz has conceded the race. Here’s her press release.
ROXBURY Democratic Candidate for State Senate Sonia Chang-Diaz conceded the race for the Democratic nomination for State Senate in the Second Suffolk District to Senator Dianne Wilkerson this evening, following a day-long recount of the votes that left the incumbent Senator ahead in the final count.
“I congratulate Senator Wilkerson on a hard-fought campaign,” said Chang-Diaz, “and I wish her luck in another two years representing this district I love so deeply.
“I want to thank the Election Department and the Secretary of State’s office for conducting a fair recount of all the votes in this election, and the voters for your patience and resolve throughout this process. Although the final outcome was not exactly as we hoped, I believe the recount process has ensured that every citizen in this district has won something: faith in our voting process. And that alone has been worth the extra time and effort of the past week.
“Finally, I would like to thank all of my supporters for the hard work they have done over the past four months. I feel proud of what we stood for, and for what we continue to stand for. We sent an important message in this race we said out loud that ethics and accountability matter, that they’re real things in politics with a real impact on our communities. We said out loud that we want to be inspired by politics again. Although we lost in the final vote tally, I am confident that this message has been heard and will not be forgotten.”
Our congratulations to Senator Wilkerson on her victory, and to Sonia Chang-Diaz on running an extraordinary campaign.
Sonia and Sonianistas everywhere–
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Thank you for giving a damn and getting involved. With all candidates (at least all the female candidates) having identical progressive stances on the issues, this Primary race boiled down to one thing: Integrity in Government. It’s too easy to stay out of the process and the process itself isn’t exactly user friendly. But you refused to accede to lowest common denominator governance and for your effort, we all owe you a huge thanks. Sonia is a bright rising star in the Massachusetts political landscape and I hope we see more of her in the future (just not in support of Wilkerson in the Second Suffolk campaign!). Thank you all!
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I remain, respectfully, a Samiyah Diaz supporter and a Sonia Chang-Diaz fan.
Before you reflexively say “hell no!” to the alternative in November, would you please at least be open-minded enough to check her out at http://www.samiyah4senate.com? At least read the press release posted there that states “The R after my name stands for Responsibility and Respect, not Rove and Romney.” We could stand to have a few more progressive Rs in the Commonwealth.
or ‘reflexively’, if that’s how you prefer to spin it…
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“hell no!”
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You want progressive Rs in the Commonwealth? Work on the ones that are already in office.
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If I didn’t support Chang-Diaz’s opportunism, I SURE AS HELL won’t support yours.
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When the Boston Herald endorses you, we know it’s not the kind of candidacy we’re interested in…
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I guess you could call the Herald endorsement the ‘kiss of death’ here at Blue Mass. They’ve done so much damage to the progressive movement in the Commonwealth, perhaps Diaz would be interested in declining the Herald’s endorsement, if she wants to get some traction in this district or at this blog.
Not “refluxively.” Ah, but the Weekly Dig called it right: http://www.weeklydig…
How many Sonia votes were thrown out because they were actually Samiyah votes? Inquiring minds want to know.
Samiyah’s vote totals in the Democratic race weren’t a factor in the outcome. Even if every Samiyah vote was counted for Sonia, the result would have been the same.
Boston.com has a story, including the results (Wilkerson: 6,478; Chang-Diaz: 5,711), here. The recount added 75 votes to Wilkerson’s lead. The story doesn’t mention the final vote totals of either of the other two candidates.