Brooklyn\u2019s \u201creformer\u201d group, headed largely by a grassroots civic coalition called the New Kings Democrats (NKD), swept a new slate of district leaders into office during the June primary. This could potentially mark the end of an era of Black leadership at both the party executive and foundational levels.<\/p>\n
The borough has 21 state assembly districts, with one man and woman representing each as a district leader\/state committee member \u2014 an unpaid position. Eight of the nine NKD-endorsed candidates<\/a> won their primary bids over several incumbent candidates. <\/p>\n In the 43rd Assembly District, Akel K. Williams, an NKD member, beat out activist Anthony Beckford, a progressive Democrat, with 26% of the votes, and Nakisha \u201cNikki\u201d Evans scored 33% of the votes over Michelle Tege, according to the city\u2019s Board of Elections (BOE) results<\/a>. <\/p>\n Williams\u2019s race was contentious. He initially ran against lobbyist Edu Hermelyn (43rd District), who is the husband of Brooklyn Democratic Party Chair and Assemblymember Rodneyse Bichotte Hermelyn (42nd District), to be elected as district leader from 2022 to 2024. \u201cWhen Rodneyse appointed her 1783585500 husband into the seat \u2026 that caused sort of an uproar. There was a little bit of backlash from the community,\u201d said Williams. <\/p>\n He was not necessarily an ally of Bichotte Hermelyn either during that time and lost his re-election to Beckford in 2024. He took time to step back and \u201creflect\u201d as a political operative, he said, until the current election cycle came up. <\/p>\n The borough\u2019s Democratic county party was besieged by scandal and federal investigations <\/a>this April, involving Councilmember Farah Louis; her sister, Debbie Louis, who is Governor Kathy Hochul\u2019s assistant secretary of New York City Intergovernmental Affairs; and Edu Hermelyn, although the elected officials were not specifically named in the indictment or arrested as of June. <\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m quite confident that in addition to having a better operation in terms of more volunteers, et cetera, this time from (the) New Kings Dems or Brooklyn Can\u2019t Wait slate, having more experience based on the last couple of years, everything sort of fell into place,\u201d said Williams. \u201c I don\u2019t want to cast a dark cloud on everybody, but the indictments and the federal investigations that exist \u2014 they all show and prove that something is wrong and something has to change.\u201d<\/p>\n In the past, Beckford ran aggressively against Bichotte Hermelyn for her assembly seat and lost in 2018. He was equally disheartened by the loss this time around in the primary.<\/p>\n \u201cMore could\u2019ve been done. To be honest, I didn\u2019t see myself losing the election,\u201d said Beckford. He said Williams\u2019s supporters at one point accused him of being a socialist. \u201cIt brought out a wave of emotion \u2014 just confusion at first, but then that turned into irritation because I was [saying] this is not a game. We\u2019re playing with people\u2019s democracy, their rights, their housing, their livelihoods in our community.\u201d<\/p>\n Beckford claims that the NKD went after Black district leaders who supported Bichotte Hermelyn, while district leaders, like Jacqui Painter in the 51st AD and Chris McCreight in the 46th AD, went uncontested. \u201cThey targeted all the Black district leaders; they used Black people to do it. At the same time, I always ask a question: If this isn\u2019t racist, then why is it that the white district leaders (who) voted for the chair are not being targeted as well,\u201d said Beckford. <\/p>\n In the 54th, Councilmember Sandy Nurse got 46% of the votes<\/a> and Alan Gamboa got 20%. In the 56th, Stop Deed Theft activist Carmella Charrington narrowly defeated<\/a> Kenesha Traynham-Cooper with 29% of the votes, and Omar Hardy beat Brooklyn Dems Executive Vice Chair Henry Butler with 24%. In the 57th, Shaquana D. Boykin got 43% of the votes<\/a> and Akwasi Agyeman replaced long-time district leader Michael Boomer with 28%.<\/p>\n Separately in the 58th district, Assemblymember Monique Chandler-Waterman unseated Councilmember Mercedes Narcisse as district leader with 41% of the votes<\/a>, reported the BOE.<\/p>\n NKD versus the DSA<\/p>\n The NKD aims for transparency in Brooklyn\u2019s Democratic party. They readily identify as progressive Democrats, but have a wide coalition of members who are more moderate or conservative, said Williams. <\/p>\n NKD was formed in 2008 and is headed currently by President Tony Melone. The group is not directly affiliated with the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) or the wave of DSA wins in the primary, but has been criticized by Black Brooklynites for having a similar structure as the DSA \u2014 Black and Brown candidates with a lack of the same diversity among executives in leadership roles. Even so, NKD had a problem winning an election at the congressional level, the same as the rest of the Democratic party. <\/p>\n