In a historic race for Massachusetts governor, misogyny and racism swirl around Democratic hopefuls

Long-accustomed to the onslaught of xenophobic and misogynistic speech that permeates social media, state Sen. Sonia Chang-Díaz didn’t feel surprised when a Twitter user hurled a death wish toward her last month.

Chang-Díaz, who became Massachusetts’ first Latina and Asian-American state senator in 2008, thought of her fellow sisters in service, battered by vitriol that’s intensified in recent years, fueled by the anonymity of internet trolls operating in a virtual pandemic world.