After nearly toppling seven-term incumbent state Senator Dianne Wilkerson two years ago, Democratic activist Sonia Chang-Diaz is ready to try again. The 29-year-old Jamaica Plain resident says she will challenge Wilkerson again this fall, and who can blame her?
In her first run for office in 2006, Chang-Diaz delivered a major scare to Wilkerson, winning 44 percent of the Democratic primary vote to Wilkerson's 49 percent.
A liberal-leaning former teacher who matches up closely with Wilkerson on most issues, Chang-Diaz says her call for change will be the same one she sounded two years ago.
"Voters want someone who's going to represent them on their values and on their issues, and who will uphold high standards of ethics and accountability," she said. "People want the whole package."
It is a not-too-subtle reference to Wilkerson's checkered history, which includes forceful advocacy for a range of progressive causes, but also a long trail of legal and ethical transgressions, including a conviction for failure to file federal income taxes for four years in the 1990s.
That history has taken a political toll on Wilkerson, short-circuiting any ambitions she once held for higher office. It also helps to explain the traction Chang-Diaz quickly gained two years ago, with lots of voters in the district jumping at the opportunity to embrace an articulate alternative to the trouble-prone incumbent.
Chang-Diaz rolled up big margins in Jamaica Plain and the Back Bay, but Wilkerson was ultimately saved by overwhelming support in her Roxbury base. "I was really struck by how close we came in 2006 in such a short period of time and on such a short budget," said Chang-Diaz.
With more time and money, Chang-Diaz is hoping her message of change will reach far enough to put her over the top across the Senate district, which covers Chinatown, the South End, the Fenway, Roxbury, Jamaica Plain, and parts of the Back Bay, Beacon Hill, Dorchester, and Mattapan.
"I'm in this race to win and we're going to raise what it takes to be competitive," said Chang-Diaz, who quietly raised nearly $27,000 last year while pondering a second run.
Wilkerson raised more than $61,000 last year, but spent more than half of it, leaving her with $27,600 at the end of December.
The 2006 race was a crazy affair, which started when Wilkerson failed to submit enough valid nominating signatures to have her name appear on the September primary ballot, forcing the Roxbury lawmaker to wage a write-in campaign. That prompted Chang-Diaz to jump into the race and compete with Wilkerson as a write-in candidate.
Though the candidates had to get the word out to their supporters that they would have to write their choice for state Senate on the ballot, the contest coincided with the Democratic gubernatorial primary, which drew a big turnout. This year's September primary will mainly feature uncontested races for state legislative seats, meaning the Senate contenders will have to pull their supporters to the polls.
Even presuming Wilkerson and Chang-Diaz both secure spots on the ballot this time, the race might pose an organizational challenge equal to the write-in war of two years ago.
For her part, Wilkerson declined to discuss the looming rematch. "I welcome the opportunity to engage in a lively discussion about what is best for the Second Suffolk District," she said in a statement. "I feel confident that my work will speak for itself."
The contest has already prompted back-and-forth on the liberal blog BlueMassGroup, with some bemoaning the idea of a progressive activist taking on a reliable liberal voice in the Legislature, while others welcomed the choice such a race would bring. Around here, challenging an incumbent is often regarded as heresy.
In other places, it's called democracy, something we could stand to see more of locally.
Michael Jonas can be reached at jonas@globe.com.
