{"id":330550,"date":"2026-08-26T22:08:29","date_gmt":"2026-08-26T22:08:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/330550\/"},"modified":"2026-08-26T22:08:29","modified_gmt":"2026-08-26T22:08:29","slug":"brooklyn-dems-change-who-picks-party-boss-in-closed-door-vote-chair-challengers-head-back-to-court","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/330550\/","title":{"rendered":"Brooklyn Dems change who picks party boss in closed-door vote; chair challengers head back to court"},"content":{"rendered":"

Brooklyn Democratic<\/a> leaders voted behind closed doors Tuesday night to dramatically expand the party body that will choose its next chair \u2014 reshaping a leadership fight in which reformers say they had already secured a majority and setting up a renewed court battle over control of the county organization.<\/p>\n

All 10 proposed amendments were approved, with the most consequential of them broadening voting membership on the party\u2019s executive committee beyond the 42 district leaders who previously controlled the chair election, adding additional County Committee officers and, later, a delegate from each Assembly District.<\/p>\n

New Kings Democrats, the reform group backing Assembly District 51 district leader Julio Pe\u00f1a III for chair, said the expansion passed 21-19, with one abstention and one absence. The group said all eight district leaders who lost elections in June voted in favor.<\/p>\n

That point is also central to the reformers\u2019 court challenge. Pe\u00f1a\u2019s side argues that several members who lost races in June or did not seek reelection were no longer entitled to vote under the party\u2019s existing rules, while Bichotte Hermelyn maintains that outgoing members remain in office until their successors formally take office following the party\u2019s organizational meetings.<\/p>\n

The party did not release an official roll call from Tuesday night. Chair Rodneyse Bichotte Hermelyn, who has held the position since 2020, later told amNewYork that individual votes could not be released because the meeting was held in executive session. She separately criticized members for leaking votes on social media, saying doing so was against party rules and could result in sanctions.<\/p>\n

\"\"Paper is placed over a window at the Thomas Jefferson Democratic Club during Tuesday night\u2019s closed-door Brooklyn Democratic Party meeting. Photo by Lloyd Mitchell<\/p>\n

The vote capped a week of turmoil<\/a> inside Brooklyn\u2019s Democratic organization. Pe\u00f1a\u2019s coalition says it holds 22 of the 42 district leader votes, enough under the previous structure to elect him chair if those commitments hold.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Bichotte Hermelyn unveiled the expansion<\/a> as that challenge to her leadership intensified, drawing opposition from Mayor Zohran Mamdani and Gov. Kathy Hochul to Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries. State Democratic Party Chair Jay Jacobs and good-government groups also urged the party not to change the rules before its newly elected members organize.<\/p>\n

The fight landed in Brooklyn Supreme Court <\/a>on Monday, where Pe\u00f1a and several allies sought to stop Tuesday\u2019s meeting from taking place. Justice Jill Epstein declined Monday to sign their request for a temporary restraining order as \u201cpremature\u201d and allowed the application to be renewed after the meeting. The decision did not resolve their underlying claims over whether the current executive committee had authority to make the changes or whether all of the members expected to vote Tuesday were entitled to do so.<\/p>\n

A long night behind closed doors
\n\"\"A hand presses against the window of the Thomas Jefferson Democratic Club as Brooklyn Democrats hold their closed-door meeting inside. Photo by Lloyd Mitchell<\/p>\n

Reporters began gathering outside the Thomas Jefferson Democratic Club in Mill Basin around 6 p.m., where proceedings were closed to reporters and the public.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Blinds were drawn behind windows plastered with election posters for Assembly Member Jaime Williams and Frank Seddio, the former Brooklyn Democratic Party chair who now serves as a district leader for Assembly District 59. As committee members arrived, paper was taped over a window without a blind and later over gaps in the blinds, while two security guards kept reporters behind an NYPD barricade and away from the few remaining sightlines into the room.<\/p>\n

The scene outside occasionally turned theatrical. Assembly District 55 leader Anthony Jones stopped on his way in to sing the \u201cStar-Spangled Banner\u201d to reporters while holding a handwritten sign airing his grievances with the reform-aligned New Kings Democrats. \u201c42 leaders not 27 should have decided the next county leader,\u201d it read, along with: \u201cWhy was I not notified of this vote!\u201d and \u201cYou started this mess NKD!\u201d<\/p>\n

Around 8 p.m., when the meeting paused for a bathroom break, Jones emerged again, this time celebrating the amendments that had passed by that point and giving those waiting outside one of their first indications of how the votes were breaking.<\/p>\n

\"\"Assembly District 55 leader Anthony Jones emerges midway through Tuesday night\u2019s Brooklyn Democratic Party vote. Photo\u00a0by Lloyd Mitchell<\/p>\n

Not long afterward, Assembly District 50 leader Luke Ohlson came outside with a markedly different assessment.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat is going on in there is a miscarriage of the will of the voters,\u201d Ohlson said. \u201cThere\u2019s a lot of talk in there about democracy. There\u2019s a lot of talk out there about respect, and we are disenfranchising thousands of voters by putting these measures into place. Plain and simple.\u201d<\/p>\n

He described only a \u201cpitter-patter of applause\u201d as amendments passed and called the overhaul a \u201cpower grab.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

The fight is also becoming a debate over what Brooklyn Democrats should be focused on heading into November.\n<\/p>\n

Bichotte Hermelyn argues that expanding the party\u2019s leadership will bring more voices into decision-making and strengthen its ability to organize against President Trump and Republicans. Reformers counter that party leaders should be focused on competitive races rather than their internal leadership fight.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have three assembly seats that we need to be fighting for instead of being in this room,\u201d Ohlson said, arguing Brooklyn Dems should be focused on the general election.
\n\"\"Assembly District 50 leader Luke Ohlson speaks with reporters outside the Thomas Jefferson Democratic ClubPhoto by Lloyd Mitchell\n<\/p>\n

The changes approved Tuesday went beyond enlarging the executive committee. They included setting its quorum at 25 members and extending the time Assembly District committees have to organize from 30 to 60 days, while shifting responsibility for convening those meetings from district leaders to the executive committee or its chair.<\/p>\n

Another amendment concerning future changes to proxy rules was altered during the meeting. The proposal circulated beforehand would have required an 85% vote for future amendments involving proxies; Bichotte Hermelyn later told amNewYork that threshold was lowered to 75% before it was adopted.<\/p>\n

The changes also rewrite who gets a vote on the executive committee. Under the previous rules, voting rights were largely limited to district leaders. The new rules extend voting rights to all executive committee members, including additional County Committee and executive committee officers, while each Assembly District Committee will also elect a delegate to the body.<\/p>\n

Seddio defends the changes
\n\"\"Frank R. Seddio, a former Brooklyn Democratic Party chair and current district leader for Assembly District 59, speaks with reporters after Tuesday night\u2019s closed-door executive committee meeting in Mill Basin.Photo by Lloyd Mitchell<\/p>\n

The meeting stretched for roughly three hours before members began emerging shortly after 10 p.m. Frank Seddio stopped to speak with reporters and offered a full-throated defense of the night\u2019s proceedings.<\/p>\n

Asked about reformers\u2019 plans to return to court, Seddio replied: \u201cThat\u2019s what we have a good set of courts for.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

He said he believed the amendments complied with the Brooklyn party\u2019s rules and would ultimately survive the challenge, arguing that the party had acted within a framework used for decades.<\/p>\n

Pressed on why such consequential changes had not been made in previous years, Seddio suggested the moment presented an opportunity to \u201cmake the party more democratic,\u201d while saying he had no role in engineering the proposals.<\/p>\n

\"\"Before the meeting, Seddio faced off with a reform-aligned County Committee member outside the Thomas Jefferson Democratic Club. After being called a \u201cclown,\u201d Seddio responded by dancing and singing Julius Fu\u010d\u00edk\u2019s \u201cEntry of the Gladiators.\u201d Photo by Lloyd Mitchell<\/p>\n

When a reporter noted that a string of prominent Democrats had spoken out against the changes, Seddio shot back: \u201cI\u2019m a prominent Democrat.\u201d<\/p>\n

He also said he would support Bichotte Hermelyn if she decides to seek another term as chair.\n<\/p>\n

\u201cIf she ran, I would support her,\u201d Seddio said. \u201cYes, absolutely support her.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

Bichotte Hermelyn says committee \u2018expanded\u2019 democracy in Brooklyn
\n\"\"Brooklyn Democratic Party Chair Rodneyse Bichotte Hermelyn heads to a waiting car after leaving Tuesday night\u2019s party meeting through a rear exit.Photo by Lloyd Mitchell<\/p>\n

Bichotte Hermelyn did not follow Seddio out to the reporters who had spent the evening waiting at the front of the club. Instead, she left through a rear exit and was quickly ushered into a waiting car without stopping to answer questions.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Reached later by phone, Bichotte Hermelyn called the result a \u201cwin for all of us, for all of Brooklyn\u201d and described the changes as a historic expansion of representation inside the county party.<\/p>\n

\u201cDemocracy is what we did. We expanded,\u201d she said, arguing that reform groups themselves had long called for broader participation in party decision-making.<\/p>\n

In a statement after the vote, the Brooklyn Democratic Party said district leaders had voted \u201cto expand representation on the Executive Committee\u201d by adding leaders from every Assembly District.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis strengthens our fight for working families, affordability, and against the Trump agenda,\u201d the party said. \u201cThe vote was open, fair, and democratic. No kings in Brooklyn \u2014 we move forward together.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bichotte Hermelyn also brushed off the pushback from prominent Democrats who had urged the party not to proceed, saying they \u201cdon\u2019t know the party rules.\u201d She maintained that the executive committee had authority under both its bylaws and election law to amend them.<\/p>\n

She pointed to the court\u2019s refusal to stop Tuesday\u2019s meeting as support for her position. Justice Epstein, however, did not rule on the legality of the amendments. Her handwritten notation said the emergency request was premature and could be renewed after the meeting.<\/p>\n

Bichotte Hermelyn said the vote did not change her own plans and that she remains undecided about whether to seek another term as chair. She also continued to question whether Pe\u00f1a\u2019s claimed 22-vote coalition would remain intact when the leadership vote is held.<\/p>\n

Asked why she did not stop to speak with reporters after leaving the club, Bichotte Hermelyn said she simply wanted to go home after the lengthy meeting.\n<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was just my right, and I\u2019m tired,\u201d she said. \u201cI\u2019m gonna go home.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

Pe\u00f1a: \u2018We still have 22 votes\u2019
\n\"\"Julio Pe\u00f1a III is seen outside the Thomas Jefferson Democratic Club before Tuesday night\u2019s vote on the Brooklyn Democratic Party\u2019s proposed rule changes.Photo by Lloyd Mitchell<\/p>\n

Pe\u00f1a emerged after the meeting and described the night as \u201cdifficult,\u201d saying he was disappointed to watch members support changes that he believes weakened the party\u2019s democratic process.<\/p>\n

But he insisted the expansion had not broken apart the coalition supporting his bid for chair.\n<\/p>\n

\u201cWe still have 22 votes in our coalition,\u201d Pe\u00f1a told amNewYork.\n<\/p>\n

Standing outside the closed clubhouse, he also took aim at the secrecy surrounding the proceedings.\n<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople voting in secret shouldn\u2019t be how we operate our democracy,\u201d Pe\u00f1a said.\n<\/p>\n

The dispute now shifts back to Brooklyn Supreme Court.\n<\/p>\n

\u201cOur legal challenge will continue,\u201d said Mark Hanna, an election lawyer representing Pe\u00f1a and the other petitioners who is also a district leader for Assembly District 64.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is crystal clear that the law (and even the bylaws of the party itself, prior to these ridiculous despotic amendments) does not allow the outgoing party leadership to act in secret session to overturn the intent of the democratic voters of Brooklyn,\u201d Hanna said after the meeting.<\/p>\n

The renewed challenge is expected to focus on whether the outgoing executive committee had authority to adopt Tuesday\u2019s changes and whether members whom the petitioners say no longer qualified to vote under the old rules were entitled to participate.<\/p>\n

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