{"id":125610,"date":"2026-02-06T21:25:28","date_gmt":"2026-02-06T21:25:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/125610\/"},"modified":"2026-02-06T21:25:28","modified_gmt":"2026-02-06T21:25:28","slug":"brooklyn-dems-backtrack-after-hochul-endorsement-hiccup-brooklyn-paper","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/125610\/","title":{"rendered":"Brooklyn Dems backtrack after Hochul endorsement hiccup \u2022 Brooklyn Paper"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\t\t\"brooklyn\t\t\t<\/p>\n

The Brooklyn Democratic Party re-endorsed Gov. Kathy Hochul after a tumultuous week for the org. <\/p>\n

Photo courtesy of Darren McGee\/Office of Governor Kathy Hochul<\/p>\n

The Brooklyn Democratic Party flip-flopped again on Friday morning, re-endorsing Gov. Kathy Hochul less than 48 hours after it had pulled its support for her candidacy.<\/p>\n

In a statement issued just before the state Democratic party\u2019s nominating convention, the Brooklyn Dems said they were \u201cprepared to move forward in unity and support Governor Hochul in our shared efforts to win back the House and ensure Democratic leadership remains strong across New York.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe expressed our concerns, and while continued discussions are necessary to build and strengthen relationships, we understand that the only pathway forward is together,\u201d the statement reads. \u201cToday we head into the state convention as proud Democrats committed to strengthening our Party.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hochul easily won<\/a> the state Democratic party\u2019s nomination as the official Democratic gubernatorial candidate on Friday afternoon.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"adrienneHochul this week selected Adrienne Adams as her running mate, prompting criticism from the Brooklyn Democratic Party.Photo courtesy of John McCarten\/NYC Council Media Unit<\/p>\n

The heel turn came after a chaotic and confounding week that began with the Brooklyn Dems voting to endorse Hochul. It was the governor\u2019s selection of Adrienne Adams as lieutenant governor that triggered a meltdown for the city\u2019s largest Democratic organization.<\/p>\n

Party chair Rodneyse Bichotte Hermelyn, unhappy with the choice, called<\/a> some members of the executive committee to an emergency meeting on Wednesday, sources said. Attendees agreed to withdraw the party\u2019s nomination, citing Hochul\u2019s \u201cfailure to engage or consult Brooklyn Democratic leaders\u201d before selecting a lieutenant governor.<\/p>\n

At her first public appearance<\/a> with Adams on Thursday, Hochul said she \u201clooks forward to continuing to work with the many allies and supporters we have in Brooklyn.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ll move through this,\u201d she said. \u201cPeople do what they do for their own reasons. I only focus on what\u2019s good for the state of New York, and what\u2019s good for the state of New York is having Adrienne Adams by my side.\u201d<\/p>\n

Adams, meanwhile, said there was \u201cno beef\u201d between she and Bichotte Hermelyn.\n<\/p>\n

\u201cWe all know that as Democrats there are going to be differences,\u201d she said. \u201cWhether there are differences here, today, tomorrow, there are going to be differences, but we pride ourselves on having a big tent.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

In an appearance on \u201cInside City Hall<\/a>\u201d on Thursday night, Bichotte Hermelyn doubled down on her critiques, arguing that the governor should have chosen a running mate who would appeal to more voters in Brooklyn, particularly in districts that have flipped red in recent years.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have nothing against Hochul, we want her to win, but we want New York State to win,\u201d she said.
\n\"AllHochul (second from left) joined Bichotte Hermelyn (third from left) for a visit to Little Haiti in 2024. File photo by Erica Price\n<\/p>\n

Roughly 14 hours after Bichotte Hermelyn\u2019s TV appearance, the party announced its decision to re-endorse Hochul. A spokesperson for the party chair told NY1<\/a> that\u00a0 Bichotte Hermelyn had engaged in \u201creally productive\u201d conversations with Hochul and her team.<\/p>\n

The make-up did not completely smooth things over within the Brooklyn Democratic Party, though, as some members \u2014 already frustrated by their leader\u2019s repeated switch-ups and an emergency meeting they said violated party rules \u2014 felt left in the dark.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was not involved in any of the discussions or meetings in which our endorsement was rescinded and then later reinstated,\u201d Executive Committee member and District Leader Julio Pe\u00f1a told Brooklyn Paper. \u201cI do not know what informed her decision to reinstate the endorsement but as a District Leader in Brooklyn, I\u2019ve been embarrassed by the last 36 hours.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pe\u00f1a and a slate of other \u201cReform Brooklyn District Leaders\u201d condemned Bichotte Hermelyn\u2019s actions in a joint statement on Thursday, saying her \u201cbizarre decision-making\u201d had caused \u201cchaos and confusion\u201d within the party.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThe fact that this endorsement was reversed without the required notice, without a meeting, without consulting all of the District Leaders, is proof positive that we need a wholesale change in the leadership of our party,\u201d the Reform group wrote. \u201c \u2026 Every Brooklyn party position is up for election this June, and we are part of this coalition because it is clear that our party deserves new leadership.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Brooklyn Democratic Party re-endorsed Gov. Kathy Hochul after a tumultuous week for the org. Photo courtesy of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":125611,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[19476,446,98,18390,100,99,54528,54529,11171,3932,41332,19725,54530,426,9,24,12,370,63,87,17961],"class_list":["post-125610","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-brooklyn","tag-2026-election","tag-adrienne-adams","tag-brooklyn","tag-brooklyn-democratic-party","tag-brooklyn-headlines","tag-brooklyn-news","tag-brooklyn-dems","tag-district-leader","tag-endorsement","tag-gov-kathy-hochul","tag-governors-race","tag-gubernatorial-election","tag-julio-peu00f1a-iii","tag-kathy-hochul","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-news","tag-newsletter","tag-nyc","tag-politics","tag-rodneyse-bichotte-hermelyn"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/125610","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=125610"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/125610\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/125611"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=125610"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=125610"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=125610"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}