Also see: Criminal State Senator Drunk With Power
"Wilkerson ends campaign, but bribery defendant doesn't resign; governor pushes for reforms" by Matt Viser and Eric Moskowitz, Globe Staff | November 1, 2008
State Senator Dianne Wilkerson, lacking political support and out of options, terminated her reelection campaign yesterday after a dramatic meeting with black ministers in Roxbury who urged her to step aside after her arrest this week on federal bribery charges.
Yaaaaaaayyy!!
But Wilkerson continued to resist the call from the ministers and her colleagues in the Senate to resign, announcing from the pulpit of the Charles Street AME Church that she would wait until after next week's election to decide whether she would quit the Boston Senate seat she has held for 15 years.
Boooooooooo!!
Wilkerson accepted the inevitable after several days of defiance, in which she stated her determination to carry on her write-in campaign, but as a practical matter could not even publicly show her face.
We don't want to see it anymore, either!
Wilkerson's withdrawal means that Sonia Chang-Díaz, who beat Wilkerson in the Democratic primary and was fighting Wilkerson's write-in effort, now has a clear path to the seat.
If I were a voter in the district (which I am not), I would VOTE THIRD PARTY and vote for the socialist as a matter of principle at this point.
Chang-Diaz held a press conference yesterday outside the State House, saying she wanted to reconcile hard feelings in the district. She made a direct appeal to Wilkerson supporters: "My door is always open to you, and I cannot do this job without you."
Wow! So the commonwealth is going to have its FIRST HISPANIC state senator!!! I'm kind of excited about that, readers!!! Maybe they can get some INTEGRITY back into the district's representation!!
If you want to read further blather from state officials about ethics reform (pffft) go here, readers.
