BOSTON -- State Sen. Dianne Wilkerson said Friday that she will suspend her write-in campaign to keep her state Senate district seat, but will hold off making any kind of announcement or decision on whether she will resign the seat until after the Nov. 4 election.

"I want to make it clear that we are suspending any further campaigning. I am withdrawing from this write-in sticker campaign that we have been executing for the last 2 1/2 months," Wilkerson said. "On Wednesday, there will some further discussion and announcement regarding the issue of the rest of the term."

Hours after Wilkerson made the statement, Senate President Therese Murray took further action and removed Wilkerson from her position as co-chair of the Health Care Disparities Commission.

Wilkerson, 54, was flanked by some of her most loyal supporters, African-American ministers in Boston, who began the day calling for her to resign because of federal bribery allegations charging her with taking thousands of dollars to secure a liquor license and influence a land deal in her district.

Video | Statement | FBI Photos | Charges | Survey

Members of the Boston Ten Point Coalition and the Black Ministerial Alliance gathered at the Charles St. AME Church in Roxbury and met with Wilkerson, who they had said should withdraw from the 2d Suffolk District Senate race and resign her position immediately.

After meeting with Wilkerson, however, the ministers said simply that they would continue to try to support her.

"We are simply standing with the senator today, recognizing that she is a part of our community. We dearly love her and will continue to pray for her. She has our support and we are united in this effort for the sake of all of our congregations and constituents," said Bishop Gilbert Thompson, the president of the Black Ministerial Alliance.

"We will continue to work to see that in fact what is right is done. We want to thank the senator for this step that she has taken and we look forward to being able to continue to resolve this over the next several days," the Rev. Ray Hammond, of the Ten Point Coalition, said.

In a brief release earlier, the ministers groups had said, "The controversy surrounding the senator is not about race or politics; it is about the public trust and how her current issues are a distraction from the coming historic vote."

Wilkerson was arrested and charged by federal agents this week with accepting more than $23,000 in bribes -- in at least one case allegedly stuffing cash into her bra at a Beacon Hill restaurant.

First elected to her district in 1992, Wilkerson lost her Democratic primary bid in October to challenger Sonia Chang-Diaz, but has continued campaigning as a write-in candidate.

She released a statement Thursday night refusing to step down saying, " A decision to leave this district without representation, even for 60 days, is one that cannot and should not be made in a matter of hours."

Her Senate colleagues voted unanimously Thursday to strip her of all her committee positions, including a chairmanship, and to call for her resignation. They also referred Wilkerson's case to the Senate Ethics Committee.

Murray said Wilkerson had given her a letter saying she would comply with the Senate's wishes, but apparently changed her mind.

Murray said she angered by the turnabout and other senators also expressed frustration.

"Every bill that (Wilkerson) held up, every bill that she was a proponent of and tried to push through, you've got to wonder in the back of your head, was there an ulterior motive?" said minority leader Sen. Richard Tisei, R-Wakefield.

Wilkerson has been accused by federal authorities of working to secure a liquor license for a proposed Roxbury nightclub called Dejavu and of influencing legislation that would designate state property for development without having to go through the normal public bidding process.

They released undercover photos of Wilkerson allegedly accepting bribes at a number of Beacon Hill restaurants.

She is accused of taking eight bribes ranging in amounts from $500 to $10,000 during the 17-month investigation.

Now, authorities have subpoenaed others on Beacon Hill, widening the scope of the investigation.

Wilkerson has been no stranger to controversy during her 16 years at the State House. In 1999, she was suspended from practicing law for one year after a tax evasion conviction and paid a $10,000 fine in August to settle campaign finance problem allegations. The state Bar Counsel accused her last week of lying under oath in connection with her nephew's manslaughter case.

Wilkerson is free on $50,000 unsecured bond.