Samiyah Diaz is black and Hispanic, a single mother, the daughter of immigrants and a Muslim. She is a Tufts alumna (LA '99). She is also a Republican.
Diaz is running for State Senate in Massachusetts' Second Suffolk District, which encompasses Chinatown, the South End, Jamaica Plain, Roxbury and parts of Back Bay and Beacon Hill.
Diaz was invited to speak at Tufts on Apr. 18 in an event sponsored by the Tufts Republicans. She discussed her platform and her reasons for running for the senate seat in an informal question-and-answer based conversation with the club.
Diaz was a registered Republican for some time and then un-enrolled before signing back on with the party last year.
She declined to elaborate during Tuesday night's event on her re-enlistment to the Republican Party, but said "Republicans have afforded more opportunities to people than Democrats... I'm really grateful to be a Republican right now. I see this as a great opportunity."
Diaz said that President George W. Bush is actually "very supportive of Muslims," and that, when people confront her for not conforming to the "normal" image of Republicans, she goes "back to the value system [of Republicans]."
Education topped Diaz's list of issues. As a child, she participated in METCO, a
program that offers students the opportunity to be bused to suburban schools in the Boston area to take advantage of wealthier school systems and promote racial integration. Though grateful for this opportunity, Diaz said that students should not have to leave their home city to get a high-quality education.
"I feel that we shouldn't have to do that," she said, adding that "we shouldn't have to send our kids two hours out" in order to find good public schools.
Diaz also said that public schools need greater accountability, and that teachers and administrators, not just students, should be examined and investigated in poorly performing schools.
She said that the same notion applied to economic opportunities in Boston, and that another issue on her platform is creating jobs in the city.
"You live there, you should be able to work there if you want to," she said.
Diaz's district accounts for one-half of the murders in Boston, a city which Diaz says already has a high crime rate. High-end Beacon Hill residences are notable for their iron grating on the windows, and Diaz said that safety is another key issue of hers.
"We have some of the most expensive property," she said, "but all of the residents are behind bars. The criminals should be behind bars."
Much of the violence in her district is domestic violence and incidents in which the victims and perpetrators know each other.
"This is something that troubles me a lot," she said. Diaz believes that education is the key to reducing crime. She advocates strict education in prisons, vocational training and strong kindergarten programs, and she said that stricter laws alone are insufficient.
"The wrong people are getting guns the way they want to get guns," she said. "Being tough on crime is not enough. We need to be smart on it."
Diaz admits that she is more socially progressive than some of her Republican counterparts, but is not worried that this fact will reduce her support from the party.
"I'm more socially progressive than some Republicans...We may not be exactly on the same page with a few issues but overall we're aligned," she said.
Diaz has promised not to support the reversal of the Massachusetts Supreme Court decision regarding gay marriage, saying that the issue is one of equal rights and civil rights and that it is not up to her to prohibit people from getting married.
"I'm not going to stand up and say 'no,'" she said. "We have to ensure that all of our citizens are given rights equal to others."
Diaz, who is running against 13-year Democratic incumbent Dianne Wilkerson, is the senator's first challenger in eight years. Diaz once worked on a Wilkerson campaign, but she became disillusioned with the senator after Wilkerson was implicated in several financial scandals.
According to the Boston Globe, Wilkerson failed to pay $50,000 in federal income taxes. Diaz said Wilkerson was placed under house arrest and then in a half-way home for three days following a violation of the house arrest.
In addition, Wilkerson has been indicted on charges of campaign finance fraud. $70,000 of her donations and expenses are under investigation by the state attorney general's office, according to the Globe.
This, Diaz said, has tarnished Wilkerson's reputation and the credibility of her senate seat. As the Second Suffolk District accounts for only one seat out of 40, Diaz said that a good reputation must be maintained in order to have a cooperative and productive working relationship with other Massachusetts politicians.
"People are upset with her," Diaz said. "They feel let down ... she has an issue with ethics."
Diaz needs 50 more signatures to be able to run, having received 250 of the necessary 300. The deadline is May 2, and she is confident that she will make this mark. After that, she said that her campaign's focus will turn to fundraising and social events in order to gain name recognition and spread her message.
"It's really good just to get out there," she said. As of now, she has not signed on to receive help from the Republican Party, though several people, including Lieutenant Governor Kerry Healey, have volunteered to help with her fundraising and campaigning.
"I want to stand on my own two feet" before soliciting help, Diaz said.
The daughter of parents who immigrated from Trinidad, Diaz was an active member of the Tufts community. She was a computer science major and worked in Tufts Lighting Sound and Video, at the help desk in Eaton, and was in the National Society of Black Engineers. She went abroad to Annecy, France and was an assistant online editor of the Tufts Daily.
She is currently in her second year of law school at New England School of Law and works as a student attorney providing legal assistance to poor families.
Diaz hopes to continue what she described as an "uphill battle" against the incumbent through mailings, door knockings, comparative pieces that explain her views in contrast to Wilkerson's and fundraising.
"I do believe this is part of my civic duty," she said.
And as for her visit back to Tufts?
"It's great to be back home," she said.
