Chang-Díaz responds to Wilkerson campaign finance violation settlement

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: June 30, 2008

Contact: Deborah Shah, Campaign Manager

617-390-7913 (office), 917-922-7947 (cell)

BOSTON – Democratic Candidate for State Senate Sonia Chang-Díaz released the following statement in response to recent news coverage of the settlement between Senator Dianne Wilkerson and the Attorney General's office over a long pattern of campaign finance violations from 2000 to 2007, including a civil enforcement action filed in Suffolk Superior Court on September 28, 2005:

"The Attorney General's office announced today that it has concluded its investigation of Senator Wilkerson, reaching a settlement with her with respect to charges arising from a civil suit alleging a series of campaign law violations over a five-year period.

Ensuring our elected officials are held accountable is essential if voters are to have confidence in their government. A fair, open campaign finance reporting system is one of the most important ways we have of ensuring this accountability in our elected leaders.

As such, I am pleased to see the Attorney General take action and bring this matter to a resolution. The voters of this district deserve to know the facts of what has happened, and these facts are no longer in dispute. Wilkerson has admitted wrong-doing over a number of years, and has agreed to stringent new reporting requirements as a result.

This is why we new leadership in the Second Suffolk, and I continue to ask the voters for their support in the September 16th Primary."

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