Chang-Diaz declares victory in Second Suffolk District

(John Bohn/Globe Staff)

Chang-Diaz declared victory in a speech to supporters tonight at a restaurant in Boston's Jamaica Plain.

By Donovan Slack, Globe Staff

Sonia Chang-Diaz declared victory tonight in her campaign for state Senate in Boston, a hard-fought but nonetheless bittersweet win after incumbent Senator Dianne Wilkerson dropped out of the race last week following her arrest on federal bribery charges.

Chang-Diaz made the declaration at about 9:15 p.m. based on unofficial reports from polling places that she had received more than 80 percent of the votes cast in the Second Suffolk District. Official results were not expected until late tonight because city election officials had to hand-count each ballot after the polls closed at 8 p.m.

If she indeed secured the seat, Chang-Diaz, a former school teacher from Jamaica Plain who lost to Wilkerson in a race in 2006, still faces a big challenge winning over some of Wilkerson's core supporters. Some voters going to the polls today said they felt Wilkerson was victimized by authorities, and they voted for her despite the stunning FBI images of her allegedly accepting bribes.

Some Wilkerson supporters were distributing stickers at polls today to affix to ballots for Wilkerson's write-in campaign, even though Wilkerson terminated her campaign Friday. Chang-Diaz, campaigning in Wilkerson's strongholds, repeatedly told voters that she wants to heal a deeply divided district.

Wilkerson, who did not return calls seeking comment today and did not hold a public event tonight, has so far resisted pressure to resign from her Senate seat amidst the federal corruption probe but promised a decision and announcement Wednesday morning. Chang-Diaz will not take over the seat until January.

Michael Levenson and Andrew Ryan of the Globe staff and correspondent John M. Guilfoil contributed to this report. Donovan Slack can be reached at dslack@globe.com.

Chang-Diaz spent much of the day visiting polling places in Roxbury and Dorchester, the heart of Wilkerson's former base of support in the Second Suffolk district, which also encompasses parts of downtown Boston, Back Bay, Beacon Hill, Chinatown, the South End, and the Fenway.

Chang-Diaz, slight and soft-spoken, said while campaigning earlier today that she knows she has an uphill climb ahead of her, with a district divided and still reeling from the federal allegations that Wilkerson, who represented the district for 15 years, allegedly accepted cash bribes totaling $23,500 in exchange for helping to get a liquor license for a Roxbury nightclub and development rights for a parcel of land in the neighborhood.

"I think it's been a real challenge for the community," Chang-Diaz said as she campaigned in Roxbury. "It's hard on the community and it makes it harder for any elected official."

There were signs at some of the polling places that Wilkerson's supporters had not given up, even though the senator had called off her campaign.

At one Roxbury polling place, someone had taped a Wilkerson flier over the blue signs of her challenger, Chang-Diaz. The flier asked, "What happened to innocent until proven guilty?"

At the Lewis Middle School, two former Wilkerson campaign volunteers with "Dianne delivers" stickers affixed to their lapels were observed slipping stickers to voters with Wilkerson's name printed on them.

"She's always looked out for the community," one of the workers, Dorchester resident Lesa Canty, said. "You can't always believe what you see."

It was a sentiment echoed by some voters, too.

Outside the Orchard Gardens Community Center in Roxbury, Irwin Capers, a 49-year-old unemployed electrician, said he voted for Wilkerson with a sticker.

"We’ve got politicians stealing all the time," Capers said. "That’s why they talk about campaign reform. They do it all the time and they don't get whacked. She did a lot for the community. Sure, she took a little something. But everybody’s been taking something."

Chang-Diaz said she is eager to begin tackling the issues she believes are most pressing in her district, including protecting vital community programs in the face of deep state budget cuts, curbing youth violence, and reforming criminal record information laws.

She won the Democratic primary election in September with heavy support from her home neighborhood of Jamaica Plain. Preliminary figures for yesterday's election indicated the neighborhood had one of the highest voter turnout rates in the city. By 6 p.m., some 11,200 voters, nearly 63 percent of those registered, had already cast ballots.

Chang-Diaz voters interviewed today said that she represented a fresh face and new energy in a district that desperately needs both.

Rosemary Hurley, a 69-year-old Roxbury resident wearing an Obama hat, said she couldn't bring herself to support Wilkerson.

"I feel as though it was time for change," she said.