{"id":326526,"date":"2026-08-21T09:48:10","date_gmt":"2026-08-21T09:48:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/326526\/"},"modified":"2026-08-21T09:48:10","modified_gmt":"2026-08-21T09:48:10","slug":"reformers-blast-audacious-power-grab-by-brooklyn-democratic-party-chair","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/326526\/","title":{"rendered":"Reformers Blast \u2018Audacious Power Grab\u2019 by Brooklyn Democratic Party Chair"},"content":{"rendered":"

A raft of last-minute proposed changes to Brooklyn Democratic Party<\/a> rules, billed as reforms by leadership, is drawing the ire of critics who see an eleventh-hour attempt by party chair Rodneyse Bichotte Hermelyn to maintain her grip on power after losing the majority of district leaders<\/a> in the June primary election.<\/p>\n

In an interview with Erroll Louis on NY1<\/a> Wednesday night, Bichotte Hermelyn said, \u201cWe want to create a perception of inclusiveness.\u201d Later, the Brooklyn Democratic organization released a slick video where she described the changes as an attempt to \u201cexpand leadership\u201d and \u201cexpand representation<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n

But the details of the proposals, emailed from Bichotte Hermelyn<\/a> to current district leaders late Wednesday night, are drawing condemnation from party reformers and elected officials, including state Attorney General Letitia James<\/a>, who suspect Bichotte Hermelyn is trying to pack the executive committee with dozens of loyalists.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cNew Yorkers deserve leaders who are committed to serving their communities, not rewriting rules to hold onto power,\u201d James and Public Advocate Jumanne Williams<\/a> wrote in a joint statement<\/a>. \u201cChanging the makeup of an executive committee on the eve of a leadership vote goes against what we believe in as Democrats and should not move forward. Brooklyn Democrats deserve a process they trust.\u201d<\/p>\n

The changes would add more than two dozen new voting members on the party\u2019s executive committee who in turn would select the party chair in the upcoming election this fall.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"BrooklynBrooklyn Democratic Party chair and Assemblymember Rodneyse Bichotte Hermelyn speaks at a gala in Red Hook, Oct. 30, 2025. Credit: Ben Fractenberg\/THE CITY<\/p>\n

The changes also assure that former party chairs are able to vote in future leadership contests for life, even after they stop serving as district leaders, meaning if Bichotte Hermlyn loses her seat, she would still get a vote in perpetuity.\u00a0<\/p>\n

That proposal also appears to mean that Clarence Norman, a former party chair who resigned in 2005 after multiple corruption convictions<\/a> \u2013 including one for soliciting bribes from judicial nominees \u2014 would also get to vote on party leadership. Alleged corruption in the judicial nomination process is one of the key critiques of reformers aiming to transform the party.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s almost like an ironic joke,\u201d said Mark Hanna, an attorney and one of the district leaders aligned with the party\u2019s reform slate. \u201cYou think we\u2019re all corrupt taking payments for judges? Well, here it is, here\u2019s the man himself, and he\u2019s now voting again.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hanna called the changes a, \u201cjawdroppingly audacious power grab.\u201d<\/p>\n

MORE: Brooklyn Reformers Set to Oust Embattled Democratic Party Chair<\/a><\/p>\n

Bichotte Hermelyn, a member of the state Assembly representing Flatbush, East Flatbush, Midwood, and Ditmas Park, summoned current district leaders to vote on the proposed changes at a meeting next Tuesday night.\u00a0<\/p>\n

A slate of reform district leaders, who overtook Bichotte Hermelyn\u2019s supporters during the June primary, had announced they were backing a new leader of the party, but they won\u2019t take their seats until the fall, meaning Bichotte Hermelyn still holds a majority of votes.<\/p>\n

If the changes are passed, the 22 votes the reformers amassed will be irrelevant by the time the fall election rolls around, district leaders said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

After the leadership elections, an additional rule change Bichotte Hermelyn proposed would allow the appointment of additional voting members from each assembly district, bringing the total number of executive committee members to around 90 people.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery single district leader could show up to vote and she would outvote us,\u201d said one district leader who, fearing political retaliation, asked that their name be withheld.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s some precedent for attempting to pack party votes. Former party boss Vito Lopez installed 11 handpicked supporters<\/a> to pad out his flagging support before he resigned in disgrace<\/a> in 2012 following a barrage of sexual harassment allegations.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Reform district leaders had anticipated Bichotte Hermelyn might try some version of this as the chair election approached, once reformers lined up behind Julio Pe\u00f1a, a longtime district leader from Sunset Park who runs an afterschool program.<\/p>\n

MORE: Two Years After Federal Raids, an Eric Adams Power Couple Seeks Podcast Fame<\/a><\/p>\n

Still, the proposals were more extreme than most people had imagined possible. Tony Melone, the head of New Kings Democrats, a reform-oriented democratic club, called them \u201cthe most radical changes that anyone can remember.\u201d<\/p>\n

Melone said they may have to fight the upcoming changes in court, but that would be a waste of limited party resources better spent fighting Republicans in several contested South Brooklyn districts this November.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI think everybody in Brooklyn<\/a> should agree it should not be one person who controls everything forever basically,\u201d Melone said. \u201cEvery elected official in Brooklyn should speak out about this.\u201d<\/p>\n

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