Sonia Chang-Diaz for State Senate

The Editors of Blue Mass. Group heartily endorse Sonia Chang-Diaz‘s campaign for the Second Suffolk Senate district.  Chang-Diaz is taking on the long-time incumbent Dianne Wilkerson, whose service on Beacon Hill has been plagued with legal and ethical problems, in an all-write-in primary tomorrow.

Chang-Diaz herself makes her case as well as we could:

Senator Dianne Wilkerson has done good and important things for this district. All of us, myself included, are grateful for her hard work and accomplishments. Senator Wilkerson and I are both progressive Democrats, and we share many of the same political beliefs. I am not challenging her record of accomplishments in the State House.

But ethics and accountability matter. They have a real effect on our democratic process and our community….

It is important to be very clear when we talk about Senator Wilkerson’s legal and ethical problems. We are not talking about unfounded accusations or minor matters.  Nor do we make statements based in anything other than fact. We are talking about documented and serious violations of the public trust, from failing to file federal tax returns for four years in a row to repeated inappropriate uses of campaign funds. 

Indeed, in an interview with the Beacon Hill Times (which eventually endorsed Chang-Diaz), Senator Wilkerson almost made it sound like being turned out of office would be doing her a favor.

We did not endorse our current Senator Dianne Wilkerson for one reason: she seems overwhelmed, a condition that cannot be good for her constituents. She said herself that it has been hard for her to manage her personal affairs and the ethics charges surrounding her since she is working on legislation, sometimes for months at a time. The interviewers noted, however, that other senators manage both political and personal lives seamlessly.

If Wilkerson finds her day job so burdensome that her “personal affairs” end up falling apart around it, the obvious conclusion is that perhaps, for her own sake, she should consider a new day job.  Most other public officials – in fact, most people in general – manage both their day jobs and their personal affairs without undue difficulty.  We see no reason why Wilkerson shouldn’t be held to that standard.  Wilkerson’s explanations for her transgressions are not convincing, and her continuing difficulties weaken her constituents’ representation on Beacon Hill.

Chang-Diaz represents a real opportunity for positive change in the Second Suffolk district.  She is no neophyte to Beacon Hill, having worked as chief legislative aide to former Sen. Cheryl Jacques, so she will hit the ground running.  She understands politics (she’s been a campaign manager and has worked with MassVOTE).  She also has hands-on experience with one of the most important issues in any district – education – since she’s worked as a public school teacher.

Finally, Chang-Diaz represents a chance to break away from the outright hackery that continues to plague Beacon Hill.  Sen. Wilkerson, for all the good work she’s done for progressive causes (and she has done a lot), also sponsored one of the most hackish pieces of legislation in recent memory: the retroactive extension of Turnpike Board member Jordan Levy’s term for an additional several months, in order to keep Matt Amorello’s chairmanship intact and the board out of Gov. Romney’s control.  We railed against that legislation (which ultimately was not enacted because of the CA/Tastrophe), saying that it embodied precisely why Kerry Healey’s running against the legislature may prove a good strategy for her.  We hope and expect that Chang-Diaz would never get involved in shenanigans like that.

We urge the residents of the Second Suffolk District to cast their sticker or write-in vote for Sonia Chang-Diaz at tomorrow’s primary.

Volunteer – best bet is to CALL 617-848-0875.  They are actively looking for more volunteers – remember, it’s a sticker campaign, so grounds troops are critical.

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Note (by David): in the interest of time, this endorsement was written by me and posted without first being reviewed by Charley or Bob.  We are all united in our support of Sonia Chang-Diaz.  Charley and Bob are of course free to add their own thoughts, or to elaborate on what’s here!