Wilda Diaz
| Wilda Diaz | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Mayor of Perth Amboy, New Jersey | |
|
Assumed office July 1, 2008 |
|
| Preceded by | Joseph Vas |
| Constituency | City of Perth Amboy |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
September 14, 1964 Perth Amboy, New Jersey |
| Political party | Democratic Party |
| Spouse(s) | Greg Diaz |
| Alma mater | Perth Amboy High School |
| Profession | Banker |
| Religion | Roman Catholic |
Wilda Diaz (born Wilda Soto; September 14, 1964) was elected Mayor of Perth Amboy, New Jersey in May 2008. She defeated incumbent Joseph Vas, by a 58% to 42% margin. She is Perth Amboy's first female mayor and New Jersey's first Latina mayor.
On Nov. 6, 2012, Diaz was re-elected with 37 percent of the ballots cast in Perth Amboy, receiving 4,404 votes, surpassing top challenger Billy Delgado and second-tier candidates Frank Salado, Miguel Morales, Robert McCoy, and Sharon Hubberman, whose combined 7,147-vote totals dwarfed those of the incumbent. Delgado received 3,339 votes, Salado collected 1,678, Morales scored 1,277, McCoy got 618, and Hubberman earned 235. [14]
Wilda Diaz is one of six daughters of Mercedes and Antonio Soto, laborers who moved to New Jersey from their native San Sebastian, Puerto Rico. A lifelong resident of Perth Amboy, Diaz graduated from Perth Amboy High School in 1983. After graduation, she began a twenty-year career in banking, starting as a teller in a local bank and working her way up to becoming an assistant vice president at Banco Popular in their Elizabeth branch office. She resigned from the bank after she was elected mayor in 2008.
She and her husband, Greg Diaz, have two children, Greg, Jr. and Samantha. Greg, Jr. is an Enlisted member of the United States Army and currently serving in Afghanistan.
On March 14, 2009, the local Republican Club honored Diaz at an event attended by Chris Christie, a former United States Attorney for the District of New Jersey who was actively seeking the Republican Party nomination for governor for the November 2009 general election against incumbent governor Jon Corzine. Diaz cooperated in an investigation being conducted by federal and state law enforcement agencies relating to activities connected to former Mayor Vas's administration. Despite her affiliation with the Democratic Party, Diaz hired several Republicans to serve in her administration. In May 2010, she supported three Republican candidates for city council, including former city committee chairman Kenneth Gonzalez, and appointed another former city GOP leader, Maria Garcia, to the municipal planning board.
...
Wikipedia