News :: GLBT
Sonia Chang-Diaz for Senate, Re-elect state Rep. Carl Sciortino
Thursday Sep 11, 2008
State Sen. Dianne Wilkerson has been one of the LGBT community’s most effective champions in the legislature, beginning with her filing of a domestic partnership bill during as a freshman legislator back in 1993 through her eloquent and brilliant speech at the 2004 constitutional convention to, most recently, her leadership on securing state funding for several LGBT budget priorities and her shepherding of the bill to repeal the 1913 law through the Senate. Her years of hard work have been well documented on the pages of this newspaper. We unequivocally endorsed Wilkerson in 2006, when she found herself facing several challengers after fresh allegations of campaign finance violations surfaced - Wilkerson has had numerous personal and political financial difficulties in the past - and she failed to gather the requisite 300 signatures to have her name placed on the ballot. We reasoned that if anyone deserved the LGBT community’s loyalty in tough times it was a legislator who had stood with the LGBT community when it faced its own tough times - and with few allies to speak of.
All that said, this paper cannot in good conscience endorse Wilkerson in her re-election bid this time around.
Though it’s easy to dismiss Wilkerson’s ongoing campaign finance troubles by saying that they haven’t impacted her leadership on LGBT issues, it’s not that simple.
Last month, Wilkerson agreed to pay a $10,000 fine for campaign finance irregularities - the second such fine of her tenure as a lawmaker - dating to 2003-2004. Wilkerson didn’t help instill confidence about preventing future improprieties when, at a candidate forum last week, she responded by to an audience member’s question about what she would do in the future to uphold the legal requirements of state campaign finance laws by deflecting the question with a joke. "Try my best to follow them," she answered, as some in the audience laughed and clapped. "That’s all I got to say."
It was a sad moment for those who have respected Wilkerson’s hard work over the years for the LGBT community. It was a moment in which we finally thought, "Enough is enough." Her light treatment of a serious issue defines her tenure in elected office.
Wilkerson is a legislator of great accomplishment who represents a diverse, progressive district that is all but tailor made for her. But for the financial difficulties, her re-election this year - and in 2006 - should be a slam dunk. Instead she finds herself once again running a close race against Sonia Chang-Diaz, who nearly unseated the incumbent two years ago. And the LGBT community finds itself investing enormous resources to help her protect her seat. As they did in 2006, MassEquality, for instance, has made Wilkerson’s re-election one of its two top priorities.
The organization has paid for mailings, conducted phone banks and helped organize a large fundraiser on Wilkerson’s behalf. On Tuesday, a host of LGBT leaders, including state Rep. Liz Malia and MassEquality Campaign Director Marc Solomon staged a rally for Wilkerson and then fanned out into the district to canvass for her. On Wednesday, MassEquality sent an e-mail to every one of its members in the 2nd Suffolk District with a link to a webpage they created where supporters can view Wilkerson’s 2004 constitutional convention speech in favor of marriage equality.
All this to protect Wilkerson from losing her seat to Chang-Diaz, a progressive Democrat who shares Wilkerson’s gut-level understanding of, and commitment to, LGBT issues.
Meanwhile pro-equality candidates - like state Rep. Steve "Stat" Smith, a pro-equality freshman House member representing the social conservative-leaning, blue collar towns of Everett and Malden - are struggling to get re-elected. Smith is facing a Democratic primary challenger who has received at least $2,000 in contributions from some prominent anti-gay activists from outside the district, including Thomas Shields, president of the anti-gay Coalition for Marriage and Family, and Walter Weld, a longtime board member of the Christian right group Massachusetts Family Institute. No need to wonder where Smith’s challenger stands on LGBT issues. Clearly, the LGBT community’s resources could be better spent helping Stat Smith win re-election this year.
Though she has not had the opportunity to advance LGBT equality to the degree that Wilkerson has, LGBT voters can feel good about casting a vote for Chang-Diaz on Sept. 16. Having worked for openly lesbian former state senator Cheryl Jacques, she is knowledgeable on the issues that are important to the LGBT community. She lent her time and talents to the marriage equality fight as a consultant for MassEquality. She has been a visible presence in the community and actively courted its support, even though she is well aware that LGBT political institutions are with Wilkerson. We think her tenacious campaign style is a harbinger of her ability to deliver for all of the residents of the 2nd Suffolk District, including LGBT people.
Vote Sonia Chang-Diaz on Sept. 16.
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This is an easy one. The LGBT community needs to make sure Rep. Carl Sciortino wins his re-election fight to hold onto his 34th Middlesex District seat, which includes portions of Somerville and Medford. When Sciortino was first elected in 2004 his victory was seen as a David-and-Goliath story symbolic of the strength of the marriage equality movement; he was a young openly gay man running a grassroots campaign who unexpectedly and narrowly defeated Vincent Ciampa, a 16-year incumbent who strongly opposed marriage equality. But once Sciortino took office he soon showed the LGBT community that he was more than just a symbol.
Sciortino made history in the Bay State when he worked with transgender activists to file the first statewide transgender civil rights legislation this session. He cosponsored the bill, which would add trans-inclusive language to the state’s anti-discrimination and hate crimes laws, with Rep. Byron Rushing, and last March he helped organize testimony for the Judiciary Committee hearing on the bill, the first legislative hearing focused on trans issues in the state’s history. Sciortino also helped win funding increases for LGBT youth and HIV/AIDS programs in the state budget this year, and as a freshman legislator in 2005 he addressed his colleagues from the floor of the constitutional convention and urged them to protect the right of same-sex couples to marry. In just four years Sciortino has become one of the House’s most dedicated champions of LGBT rights.
Sciortino faces an uphill fight against Somerville Alderman Bob Trane, who is challenging him for his seat. On primary day Trane’s name will be the only one on the ballot, since Sciortino did not turn in the required number of certified signatures to appear on the ballot to the secretary of state’s office by the deadline. Sciortino claims the signatures were stolen from his State House office. He has been forced to run as a sticker candidate to hold onto his seat. Whether the signatures were stolen or simply lost, the campaign’s failure to keep better track of such crucial paperwork was an unfortunate slip-up. But since then the Sciortino has picked himself up and run an impressive campaign, reaching out to voters in the district, managing a powerhouse fundraising operation, and even scoring a rare primary endorsement from Gov. Deval Patrick. Trane may be good on LGBT isssues, but the bottom line is the LGBT community needs Sciortino back on Beacon Hill, and he deserves our support.
On Sept. 16 voters in the 34th Middlesex District should put a sticker on the ballot for Carl Sciortino.
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