Progressive Democrats slam Brooklyn party boss’ attempted rule change Spectrum News NY1
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Mayor Zohran Mamdani accused the leader of the Brooklyn Democratic Party of trying to “circumvent the will of voters” — as she proposed last-minute rule changes that could help her hold onto power. Chairwoman Rodneyse Bichotte Hermelyn, a state Assemblywoman representing Central Brooklyn, is pushing a proposal to dramatically boost the number of voting members…
The Brooklyn Democrats’ escalating leadership war landed in court Monday, where a reform-aligned challenger whose allies say he has the votes to become the county party’s next leader sought to block sitting Chair Rodneyse Bichotte Hermelyn from pushing through a sweeping package of rule changes Tuesday.
That meeting can go ahead after Justice Jill Epstein declined Monday afternoon to grant the reformers’ emergency request for a temporary restraining order, writing that the request was “premature” and could be renewed after the meeting.
Epstein’s decision leaves unresolved the broader question of whether any rule changes that may be approved Tuesday are legally valid, according to Mark Hanna, an attorney for the reformers.
Julio Peña III, who is backed by a coalition claiming 22 of the party’s 42 district leader seats, joined Akel Williams, Jillian Cara Goger and Johnny Sagan in filing the lawsuit against Bichotte Hermelyn, the Kings County Democratic County Committee and its executive committee in Brooklyn Supreme Court Monday morning.
The lawsuit centers on whether the current executive committee can make sweeping changes to the party’s rules in the window between June’s primary and the newly elected County Committee’s organizational meeting.
Peña and his allies argue that it cannot, and they are not alone. Since Bichotte Hermelyn announced the proposed changes last week, a growing number of prominent Democrats have urged her not to proceed, with Mayor Zohran Mamdani and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer joining the opposition Monday.
Bichotte Hermelyn did not respond to repeated requests for comment Monday. The Brooklyn Democratic Party did not immediately respond to a separate request for comment.
How Brooklyn Democrats’ leadership battle landed in court
The reformers argue that Bichotte Hermelyn is trying to use the post-primary window to change the makeup of the executive committee and, with it, the group that will choose Brooklyn’s next Democratic Party leader.
The first judge assigned to the case on Monday morning quickly recused himself because the dispute could potentially affect his own judicial renomination. Justice Kenneth P. Sherman wrote that he “may be seeking re-nomination in the next election cycle” and that his nomination could be affected by the issues in the case or by his rulings.
Sherman said that created, “at a minimum,” the potential appearance of impropriety and referred the case to for reassignment.
Hanna said the case was taken up Monday afternoon by Epstein, who declined to issue the temporary restraining order sought by Peña’s side.
Epstein wrote on the proposed order that she was declining to sign it as “premature,” adding that the request could be renewed after Tuesday’s meeting.
Hanna said the judge’s reasoning was that the meeting could take place and the amendments could fail, leaving no harm for the court to undo.
The decision allows Tuesday’s gathering to proceed but does not resolve Peña’s underlying claims about whether the current executive committee has authority to adopt the changes or whether everyone expected to vote is legally entitled to do so.
Hanna said his clients intend to return to court if the amendments pass and seek a ruling on those questions.
What’s at stake Tuesday
The court fight comes days after Bichotte Hermelyn, who has led the Brooklyn Democratic Party since January 2020, unveiled a plan to dramatically expand the party’s executive committee amid an increasingly public challenge to her leadership.
Reform-aligned district leaders won eight of nine contested races in June and say their coalition now holds 22 of the executive committee’s 42 district leader seats – enough, if those votes hold, to elect Peña as the next county leader.
Speaking to amNewYork last week, Bichotte Hermelyn denied that her proposed overhaul is an attempt to derail Peña, saying instead that the party gives too much power to district leaders and should bring more elected party officials into its decision-making.
The full package filed with the lawsuit shows the changes would go well beyond adding a handful of new voters.
One amendment would create eight countywide executive committee positions and several additional County Committee offices. Another would create a new executive committee delegate in each Assembly District.
Most significantly, the proposal would expand the executive committee itself to include additional party officers and Assembly District delegates and give every member of the enlarged body a vote.
Under the current rules, voting is largely restricted to Brooklyn’s elected State Committee members, commonly known as district leaders.
Other amendments would set the executive committee’s quorum at 25 members, give Assembly District committees 60 days rather than 30 to organize and require an 85% vote for future rule changes involving proxies.
The party called its special meeting for 6 p.m. on Aug. 25 at the Thomas Jefferson Democratic Club in Mill Basin. The notice says members are expected to consider and adopt the proposed rule changes in a closed executive session.
Peña’s lawsuit argues that such major changes should wait until the newly elected County Committee holds its organizational meeting this fall.
“An outgoing party leadership should not rewrite the rules on the eve of the organizational meeting to change the electorate before that electorate has the opportunity to vote,” the petition states.
The lawsuit also raises a separate challenge to who is allowed to vote Tuesday.
It argues that several people invited to participate no longer qualify as voting members because they lost State Committee races in June or did not seek reelection.
The filing names Anthony Beckford, Michelle Tege, Doug Schneider, Lydia Bella Green, Arleny Alvarado-McCalla, Heriberto Mateo, Kenesha Traynham-Cooper, Henry Butler, Michael Boomer, Mercedes Narcisse and Roxanne Persaud.
Epstein did not rule on those underlying claims Monday, according to Hanna.
He told amNewYork that Peña and his allies would challenge any approved amendments on both fronts: whether the executive committee had authority to make substantive changes during the post-primary period and whether votes were cast by people who no longer hold the State Committee status required under the existing party rules.
Mamdani, Schumer speak out on Brooklyn Dems drama
The proposed overhaul has drawn mounting opposition from some of New York’s most prominent Democrats, with Mamdani and Schumer joining House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries and state Democratic Party Chair Jay Jacobs in urging Brooklyn party leaders not to change the rules now.
When asked about the plans at an unrelated press conference Monday, Mamdani said the changes were an attempt to “circumvent the will of voters.”
“I very much oppose these proposed changes by the current Brooklyn Democratic Party chair,” Mamdani said. “I oppose them because they are an attempt to circumvent the will of voters, and what we should see is a Brooklyn Democratic Party that is a reflection of what New Yorkers want to see in their home, as opposed to a representation of so much of what has led New Yorkers — and Americans — to become disengaged and disaffected with politics at large.”
Schumer made a similar argument Monday afternoon, saying the party should accept the outcome of the primary rather than alter its rules ahead of the leadership fight.
“Respecting the outcome of elections is a bedrock principle of our democracy, and our Democratic Party must defend that principle,” Schumer wrote on X. “Given the clear results of the June Democratic primary in Brooklyn, the party should not change the rules in the middle of the game.”
“We should respect the will of the voters,” he added in a follow-up post. “Not to do so sends the wrong message when we need to rally voters for the November election.”
Their comments follow opposition from Jeffries, whose office told amNewYork last week that he was surprised by Bichotte Hermelyn’s proposed expansion and “does not support it.”
Jacobs also urged the party to hold off, saying expanded representation “may have its merits and deserves consideration” but that making the change now “stands to do more damage than good.” Jacobs said any overhaul should instead be taken up by the full County Committee at its regular organizational meeting.
Citizens Union and Common Cause New York also came out against the full package Monday, arguing that the timing and substance of the 10 amendments would undermine the results of June’s elections rather than broaden participation.
In a joint memo, the groups said the proposals, taken together, would rewrite the rules governing the chair election “in an apparent effort to reverse a result already reached at the ballot box” and make it harder for reformers to exercise the power they won in June.
The groups also raised concerns about provisions that would expand the executive committee, alter quorum rules, shift control over Assembly District Committee organization and make future changes to proxy rules subject to a supermajority vote. They urged party leaders not to act on the package on the current timeline.
Denial of power grab
Bichotte Hermelyn has pushed back on accusations that the proposal is a power grab, arguing that expanding the executive committee would give more elected party members a voice in its decisions.
“This is not handpicked. This is not appointed,” she told amNewYork last week, noting that the additional party officers would themselves be elected.
She also defended making the changes ahead of the organizational meeting.
“We’ve always proposed rules ahead of the county committee organization,” Bichotte Hermelyn said. “We did it last year. We did it two years ago. We did it four years ago. So this is not uncommon.”
Asked directly whether the expansion was intended to stop Peña from taking control of the party, she replied: “Absolutely not.” Bichotte Hermelyn also said last week that she had not decided whether to seek another term as chair.
With Epstein declining to block the meeting, the amendments are set to come to a vote Tuesday evening. Hanna said Peña and his allies intend to return to court if they pass.
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