Wilkerson fails signature hurdle for Democratic primary ballot

BOSTON --Sen. Dianne Wilkerson, D-Boston, has fallen 37 signatures short of the number needed to guarantee a spot on the Democratic primary ballot, Boston election officials said Monday.

By law, a candidate for state senate must submit at least 300 certified signatures from within the district. Election officials said that while Wilkerson submitted 491 signatures, only 263 were eligible for certification, leaving her 37 signatures short.

She has until 5 p.m. on May 25 to contest the ruling.

Wilkerson issued a written statement saying her campaign will review all of the signatures and addresses submitted.

"Sometimes signatures are illegible, other times clarification is needed around a person's voting address," she said. "If, however, after careful review, it is still determined that I remain short the number of signatures necessary to enable my name to be on the ballot in November, I intend to wage a vigorous sticker campaign to retain my Senate seat."

Wilkerson, 51, had no Democratic challenger, but she does have a Republican opponent, newcomer Samiyah Diaz.

Diaz doesn't fit the stereotype of a Massachusetts Republican. She is black and Hispanic, a single mother, and a Muslim. She is also a law student at New England School of Law, and lives across the street from Wilkerson's house in the city's South End neighborhood.

Diaz, who submitted enough signatures to secure an uncontested spot on the Republican primary, could also launch a sticker campaign for the Democratic primary nomination. If she succeeded, Diaz would block Wilkerson from getting her name on the November general election ballot.

"There are two wild cards. Will any other Democrats wage a sticker campaign or will Diaz herself wage a sticker campaign?" said Daniel Winslow, a legal adviser to Diaz.

Winslow, former chief legal counsel to Gov. Mitt Romney, said Diaz is weighing her options and will make an announcement on Thursday.

It's not the first time, Wilkerson, who has served in the Senate since 1992, has found herself at the center of a political controversy.

In 1997, Wilkerson pleaded guilty to failing to file tax returns from 1991 to 1994. She was sentenced to house arrest, then sent to a halfway house for 30 days by a federal judge after twice breaking a court-ordered 9 p.m. curfew.

At the time Wilkerson said she didn't file the tax returns because she received a death threat and had to hire bodyguards, leaving her with no money to pay income taxes.

Last year, Attorney General Tom Reilly and the head of the state's campaign finance office filed a lawsuit against Wilkerson, alleging she had not reported nearly $27,000 in donations and had more than $18,000 in unexplained personal expenses.

Wilkerson said she had not been given sufficient time to supply information to Reilly. A Reilly spokesman said Wilkerson was warned in letters both in November 2004 and July 2005 that a complaint was being drafted.

Despite her legal woes, Wilkerson has enjoyed strong political support in the district, easily winning re-election.

Wilkerson's district includes the Boston neighborhoods of Back Bay, Beacon Hill, Chinatown, Dorchester, Fenway, Jamaica Plain, Mattapan, Mission Hill, Roxbury and the South End.

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On the Net:

Dianne Wilkerson campaign: http://www.diannewilkerson.com

Samiyah Diaz: http://samiyah4senate.com