The Brooklyn Democrats’ Brawl Is Far From Over |
After years of outwitting her opponents at every turn, Assemblywoman Rodneyse Bichotte Hermelyn, the first woman to chair the Kings County Democratic machine, is stepping down as leader of the party. But that doesn’t mean the civil war has ended.
“I am now up to my next chapter in life,” she told me Monday evening, announcing that she will not be a candidate for the chairmanship and declining to confirm rumors that she is backing an ally, Assemblywoman Nikki Lucas, as her successor. “This will be an open process, and we’re very excited for the change.” Later, she wrote in a New York Daily News op-ed that she has a fancy new title: “Brooklyn Democratic Party Chair Emeritus.”
The New Kings Democrats, part of a reform coalition that has been trying for years to oust Bichotte Hermelyn and take control of the party, immediately cried foul. “The Party Chair attempting to pick her own successor after she lost an election isn’t democracy,” the group said on social media. On Tuesday afternoon, a judge granted a temporary restraining order to block that night’s planned vote to select Bichotte Hermelyn’s successor, one of two court victories for reformers that have thrown a wrench in the outgoing chair’s plans.
The heart of the fight is Bichotte Hermelyn’s recent move to expand the party’s 42-member Executive Committee by adding 26 seats to the group — positions that would be filled........