A New York Supreme Court judge ruled against Brooklyn Democratic Party Chair Rodneyse Bichotte Hermelyn on Monday, declaring that outgoing executive committee members had “no authority” to vote on sweeping rule changes at a recent August meeting.
The decision by Judge Jill Epstein, which is likely to be appealed, blocks an effort by party leaders to add dozens more members to the executive committee. The move would have likely allowed Bichotte Hermelyn to keep control of the party.
“Given that the court finds that the vote at the meeting by the outgoing Executive Committee members was improper and given that the votes of these outgoing members made the difference,” Epstein wrote, “the court finds that the rule changes must be declared a nullity and a permanent injunction enjoining the implementation of these amended rules is thus warranted.”
New Kings Democrats president Tony Melone celebrated the ruling, writing in a statement to The City Reporter, “The court has affirmed what nearly all our city, state and federal representatives have said: it’s time for our party to hold a normal meeting under the rules that were in place at the time of the election.”
“Then we can work together to win in November.”
Jay Jacobs, chair of the New York State Democratic Party, told The City Reporter he was “glad to see the result.” “Democrats need to know that their Democratic Party is going to operate democratically,” he said in a phone interview after the ruling. “If you’re not going to hold a fair election, you lose all legitimacy.”
A spokesperson for the Brooklyn Democratic Party did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Epstein was recently elevated to the State Supreme Court with the backing of the Brooklyn Democratic Party and had acknowledged during the proceedings that she knew all the parties involved, though neither party objected to her presiding over the case.
“I never have to run for re-election,” she’d said at last week’s hearing, which had caused the courtroom to erupt into laughter. Party leaders play an instrumental role in selecting and elevating judges to the State Supreme Court.
Epstein’s ruling comes as the future of the Brooklyn Democratic Party hangs in the balance — and the clock is ticking.
At a Sept. 23 meeting in downtown Brooklyn, the County Committee could select a host of new executive committee members according to the new rules and thus tip the balance of power in a subsequent executive committee meeting in which a party chair would be selected.
The legal fight is the culmination of nearly two decades of organizing by New Kings Democrats, who for the first time flipped enough district leader seats in the June primary to be able to select their own party chair, with 22 of the existing 44 seats.
In July, that coalition, which included some existing district leaders and other incoming ones, announced their unanimous support of Julio Peña III, a longtime district leader from Sunset Park. (District leaders are elected, unpaid positions; together they pick a party chair every two years.)
But before that vote could take place, Bichotte Hermelyn convened a meeting of the outgoing district leaders, who voted with a slim majority on a series of changes that added dozens of new voting members to the executive committee, which would have rendered the New Kings Democrats’ newfound majority irrelevant.
If the changes were allowed to go into effect, reformers argue, Bichotte Hermelyn would have had the power to select dozens of new executive committee members through proxy votes at the county committee, bringing the number of people on the executive committee from 44 to nearly 100.
Even if all the elected district leaders banned together, they would still be outnumbered by the non-elected members of the committee.
Bichotte Hermelyn took over as party chair in 2020 with near unanimous support, but the brief detente between establishment and self-styled reformers quickly ended, with her critics charging she’d spent more party resources fending off challengers to her leadership than fighting Republicans in Southern Brooklyn swing districts where Democrats have lost ground.
The rules changes she pushed through drew the condemnation of every major Democrat in the state, from Governor Kathy Hochul, Attorney General Letitia James, U.S. Senator Chuck Schumer and Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries.
Reformers sued, arguing the vote violated state election law and the party’s bylaws. Part of their argument rested in a section of election law that indicated district leaders, “shall hold office until the next election at which members of the committee are elected.” Because terms run election to election, the outgoing members of the executive committee no longer have voting authority, they argued.
Attorneys for the Brooklyn Democratic Party pointed to another section of the law, that says existing district leaders “shall exercise all legal authority” until the subsequent county committee meeting which is set to take place later this month.
This is a breaking news story, check back for updates.