The State Senate campaign of Tufts alumna and Republican candidate Samiyah Diaz (LA '99) received a big boost on May 8, when city officials announced that her opponent, the Democratic incumbent Diane Wilkerson, had failed to collect enough signatures to appear on the ballot.
(The Daily profiled Samiyah in an Apr. 20 article, "Diaz: An unlikely Republican.")
"We totally didn't think that senator Wilkerson would not get on the ballot," Diaz said. "We had no idea that this was going to happen."
Wilkerson submitted 491 signatures to the Boston Election Department on the May 2 deadline, but election workers ruled that 228 of those were invalid. 136 of the signatures thrown out came from voters outside the district, which is the second Suffolk district.
Wilkerson did not respond to repeated requests for comment.
The 263 signatures remaining on Wilkerson's petition are 37 short of the 300 required to appear on the ballot in September.
According to a May 9 article in the Boston Globe, Wilkerson is requesting a review of the discarded signatures. She has until May 25 to do so.
Diaz was dubious about the likelihood of a successful protest by the Democrat.
"We don't feel that this is going to happen," Diaz said. "The Elections Department has been very diligent to make sure" that those signatures which were valid were certified.
If Wilkerson does not obtain the approval of the Elections Department, she will wage a sticker campaign for the Democratic nomination in the September primary.
Wilkerson, however, will have to contend with Diaz, her Republican opponent, who announced on May 11 that she will also be running a sticker campaign for the endorsement of the Democratic party.
In the event that Diaz garners enough write-in votes for the Democratic nomination during the September primary, her name will appear twice on the ballot in November, resulting in a de facto victory of the seat.
"We're going to have to do what we were doing before - reaching out to both Democrats and Republicans," Diaz said. "I am a Republican who can work across party lines to make change in the district."
- Judy Wexler
