Chang-Díaz has both Chinese and Costa Rican heritage through her father Franklin Chang-Díaz, a Costa Rican-American physicist and former National Aeronautics and Space Administration astronaut. Sonia Chang-Díaz was born shortly after her father earned his Doctor of Science degree from Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
University of Virginia.
She is the first Latina elected to the Massachusetts Senate. She lives in Jamaica Plain. On January 16, 2014, Chang-Diaz became one of the first elected officials in Massachusetts to endorse Don Berwick for Governor of Massachusetts.
She has since served as Chair of Berwick"s campaign.
In 2006, incumbent state senator Dianne Wilkerson failed to submit nomination papers with enough signatures for certification on the Democratic primary election, requiring her to run a write-in campaign for the party"s nomination. Chang-Díaz entered the race as write-in as well, challenging Wilkerson in a minority-majority district covering a number of the inner-city neighborhoods of Boston.
In 2008, Chang-Díaz challenged Wilkerson again for the party"s nomination, with both candidates appearing on the ballot.
