Wilkerson rallies troops for uphill sticker campaign, LGBT support up in the air

State Sen. Dianne Wilkerson, who lost the Democratic primary Sept. 16 by a one-percent margin to challenger Sonia Chang-D?az, announced plans to run a sticker campaign to retain her Second Suffolk District seat in November at a community forum at the Prince Hall Grand Lodge in Dorchester on Sept. 23.

Wilkerson, a longtime champion of LGBT rights, told a crowd of about 200 supporters that the campaign is awaiting the results of a recount she requested for primary ballots in three wards in the district, but should she fail to overtake Chang-D?az, also a strong LGBT rights supporter, in the recount, she will run as a sticker candidate in the Nov. 4 general election.

Wilkerson, the only African American state senator, said she expected Barack Obama's presidential candidacy to bring out voters in record numbers in the predominantly black neighborhoods in the district, where she enjoyed strong support in the primary and in her tough 2006 re-election campaign, where she also faced a strong primary challenge from Chang-D?az.

"I would not do this if I did not believe that I and we could win. There will be more people from this community at that poll on the fourth of November than at any time in our history," said Wilkerson.

The Second Suffolk District includes the South End, Roxbury, Fenway, Jamaica Plain, Chinatown, and parts of Dorchester, Beacon Hill, Back Bay and Mattapan. Most political observers attributed Wilkerson's defeat to voter dissatisfaction with her record of personal missteps, including a series of campaign finance violations, a past conviction for failure to pay more than $50,000 in federal taxes, and failure to pay mortgage and condo fees.

In the run-up to Wilkerson's announcement a parade of supporters from different communities in the district urged the crowd to support Wilkerson's effort to keep her seat. Many of them described Wilkerson's re-election effort as a broader struggle by communities of color to maintain their hold on a Senate seat in a district that was drawn to ensure minority representation in the Senate. While both Wilkerson and Chang-D?az identify as people of color (Chang-D?az is of Latino, Asian and Caucasian descent), several speakers at Wilkerson's forum described Wilkerson as the only candidate who could represent the interests of communities of color. Some speakers suggested that there were political forces at play both inside and outside the district working to unseat Wilkerson and deprive communities of color of representation.

"Let me say this. We are in a battle, and if you think Dianne lost because somebody just thought it was a good idea to run, you're wrong. There are some powerful folks that put money into this election to make sure Dianne was defeated," said the Rev. Miniard Culpepper, pastor of Pleasant Hill Baptist Church in Dorchester, who spoke near the start of the meeting. "You and I and this community were in a battle. And so this is a test, this is a test for how strong we are in the Boston community."

Wilkerson had a wealth of support from the state's political establishment during her primary race against Chang-D?az, including the backing of many powerful politicians like Boston Mayor Thomas Menino, Gov. Deval Patrick, and Senate President Therese Murray.

Boston City Councilor Chuck Turner told attendees that whether or not they agree with Wilkerson on the issues, they should support her re-election effort to protect the voice of the black and Latino communities. He described Chang-D?az as "someone from another community."

"So it was clear that ... if we were going to have power as people of color, as black and Latins, not only in this community but across the state, we had to have a seat that was secure, that could be the seat election after election of a person who was rooted in the politics of the black and Latin community. ... And when I say save that seat, if we have someone from another community coming in and taking the seat and having two years to build a base around that seat, then obviously it's going to be difficult to take it back," said Turner.

"There are those beyond the person who won the primary who are in elected office who would like to have that seat. They told me years ago that they'd like to have it, but Dianne was in the seat and so they wouldn't challenge her. Now if Dianne isn't in that seat believe me, believe me, elected officials who never would have thought about running for that seat will be running for that seat, and the question is will that seat disappear as a seat that's representing the perspectives of people of color?"

Dale Mitchell, executive director of Ethos, a Jamaica Plain-based elder service organization, and the president of the LGBT Aging Project, said the results of the Sept. 16 primary showed that there were strong divisions between Boston's black and white communities. Mitchell, who is white, said he would work to rebuild support for Wilkerson in Jamaica Plain, which voted in favor of Chang-D?az.
"And you saw that map in the Globe, and you saw the black community remain solid behind Dianne Wilkerson and the white community moving to her opponent. And I think that's really dangerous and that's really scary, and as a white person I feel it's my obligation to go back into my community and to rebuild the threads that bring us back together," said Mitchell.

Jean McGuire, executive director of Metco, was one of several speakers who said that changes to the polling locations in the primary contributed to Wilkerson's defeat. Referencing the complaints of black disenfranchisement in the last two presidential elections, she asked the crowd, "Isn't this Florida and Ohio all over again?"

Wilkerson suggested she believes that alleged irregularities in voting procedures on primary day cost her votes and that those irregularities disproportionately affected black voters.

"But make no mistake about it, what was a problem for me and you last week will be a problem for Obama on the fourth of November," Wilkerson told the crowd.

The polling locations were determined by the Boston Election Department, which falls under Menino's administration. Menino was one of Wilkerson's most high-profile supporters and recorded robo-calls to voters in support of her. Nick Martin, a spokesman for Menino, said the Election Department has not received any formal complaints about voting irregularities in the Second Suffolk primary.

Chang-D?az said she is disappointed by the Wilkerson campaign's efforts to reframe the election in terms of race.

"With respect to running a campaign on the basis of race, I think it's very unfortunate," said Chang-D?az.

She said she has focused her campaign on issues that affect the entire district, and particularly communities of color, such as education, neighborhood safety and public accountability of government. She said she has advocated on issues important to communities of color both as a teacher and a community activist.

"I have been a candidate for the entire district and I intend to be a senator for the entire district, and issues of communities of color have been at the heart of my work," said Chang-D?az.

She also disputed the efforts of Wilkerson's campaign surrogates to describe Wilkerson as the only candidate of color in the race.

"It's dishonest [for them to say] that they have to choose between having a candidate of color in the seat and having strong ethical leadership. There are two candidates of color in the race and it's a lie by omission of Sen. Wilkerson and her campaign to suggest otherwise. ... I have never asked voters to vote for me as a Latino candidate and I never will, but I think it's dishonest of Sen. Wilkerson to say voters have to choose between those things," said Chang-D?az.

City election officials will conduct the recount on Sept. 27. Both Wilkerson and Chang-D?az requested recounts, Wilkerson in wards eight, nine, and 12, which include sections of the South End, Roxbury and Dorchester, and Chang-D?az in ward 19, which includes much of Jamaica Plain. Chang-D?az said if she is found to be the party nominee after the recount she expects that many Democratic officials both in the district and at the state level will formally endorse her candidacy. She declined to name those officials, saying many had spoken to her in confidence.

"Everyone has been very clear to me that we all want to be respectful of the process but that once it's clear we have a duly elected Democratic Party nominee that they will be supporting who that nominee is," said Chang-D?az.

Patrick, who like Menino recorded robo-calls on behalf of Wilkerson, has already said publicly that he would back Chang-D?az over Wilkerson if Wilkerson runs as a sticker candidate.

It is unclear how much support Wilkerson will have from Democratic politicians if she runs as a sticker candidate against the party nominee. Wilkerson told the crowd that even if the recount confirms that she lost the party's nomination, she still considers herself a Democrat and plans to run as a Democratic candidate. A source close to Menino said the mayor called Chang-D?az the night of the primary to congratulate her and has spoken to her several times since then. The source added that for the time being Menino is focused on helping the Obama campaign in Massachusetts and New Hampshire and on working to build support for defeating Question 1, a ballot question to eliminate the income tax.

It's also unclear how much support Wilkerson will receive from the LGBT community. During the primary every major LGBT political organization that issues endorsements, including MassEquality, the Massachusetts Gay and Lesbian Political Caucus, Bay State Stonewall Democrats, and the Gay and Lesbian Labor Activists Network (GALLAN), endorsed Wilkerson (Disclosure: Bay Windows endorsed Chang-D?az). MassEquality made her race one of its top priorities. But for now the organizations seem to be taking a wait and see approach.

"We're simply waiting to see what happens in the recount because both candidates had questions about numbers in wards and precincts and the race was so close. We'd like to see what comes out of the recounts before we figure out next steps," said Marc Solomon, executive director of MassEquality.

Tom Barbera of GALLAN said the organization had not yet decided whether it will endorse in the general election. Representatives of the Caucus and Stonewall Democrats did not respond to interview requests by deadline.

Wilkerson enjoyed some gay support at the Dorchester meeting. Mitchell told the crowd how moved he was by Wilkerson's efforts around the marriage battle, and in particular her speech against an amendment to ban same-sex marriage during the 2004 constitutional convention.

"It is very, very rare to hear someone speak as powerfully as Dianne Wilkerson spoke on behalf of my rights, from a very personal and heartfelt level, and the entire LGBT community in the city of Boston and around the state owes Dianne a tremendous vote of support and thanks for that," said Mitchell.

Jonathan Scott, a former board member of MassEquality and executive director of Victory Programs, talked about the work he has seen Wilkerson do on behalf of the people served by Victory Programs, including people living with HIV and AIDS.

"Her legacies are the lives she has given back to those with the HIV virus. Her legacy is every time a homeless woman has found a home and a place for her kids. Her legacy is what she does every single day at the State House when the wind is blowing so hard against her. She gets out her saddle and grabs those reins and says, 'Come on, I'm going to go, and I don't care if I'm going to go it alone,'" said Scott.

Yet Wilkerson faces a daunting task in running a sticker campaign in a general election. She won a similar campaign against Chang-D?az in 2006 but David Paleologos, director of Suffolk University's Political Research Center, said it is much more difficult to win a sticker campaign in a high-turnout general election.

"The reason why it's easier in a special election or a primary election is the number of votes you need is less, so a good field organization can overcome that. ... But when you need so many people voting and so much activity it becomes more difficult because people are going to be more focused on the presidential election and races and questions that it becomes a logistical test if nothing else," said Paleologos. "It certainly can be done, but it's a lot more work and money and planning and preparation."

He described Wilkerson's chances as "improbable" but "not impossible."

As for whether turnout in predominantly black neighborhoods for Obama will help Wilkerson, Paleologos said Wilkerson needs to do more than turn out the voters; she needs to turn out disproportionately more voters among her base of support than turned out for her primary. Otherwise the increase in voter turnout across the district for Obama might negate any gains she makes in turning out supporters.

"My sense is you will have a good turnout from all factions, all demographics. The questions is would it be a disproportionate amount that would favor her in the final that didn't favor her in the primary," said Paleologos.