NEW YORK — Democrats are at war in Brooklyn over a maneuver some inside the party have called “corrupt,” a “power-grab” and even “fascist.” And they’re not talking about Republicans.
With weeks to go before the midterm elections, an intraparty feud is on full display among Democrats jockeying for control of the party apparatus in one of the bluest, most populous counties in the country. And some in the party worry the quarrel is exposing the limits of the party’s two most powerful politicians: Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, both Brooklynites.
“It is not great if you’re a powerful national Democrat and you can’t stop what is functionally a coup d’etat from happening in the county party in your own backyard,” said Democratic strategist Jon Paul Lupo, noting that the Brooklyn contretemps “definitely has repercussions” and an “impact on their standing among Democrats.”
“There’s a huge incentive to try and fix it,” he added.
Controversies are by no means foreign to the Brooklyn Democratic Party. But this fight has drawn in some of New York’s biggest political names as they lambast its chair, state Assemblymember Rodneyse Bichotte Hermelyn. In the weeks before a contested leadership election, she moved to change the makeup of the organization by expanding its executive committee, claiming it would promote inclusivity. Her critics insist it’s really just a play to boost her dwindling support ahead of the vote.
Democrats across the ideological spectrum — including Gov. Kathy Hochul, New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani and state Democratic Party Chair Jay Jacobs, as well as Schumer and Jeffries — came out against the move. Schumer warned such a change “sends the wrong message when we need to rally voters for the November election.”
But even the widespread criticism wasn’t enough to stop her proposed changes. A vote to implement them was held last month and narrowly passed, 21 to 19 with one abstention.
In the wake of that vote, leaders aligned with Brooklyn Can’t Wait, the self-described reformer group that claimed they had enough support to unseat Bichotte Hermelyn, are wondering if Schumer and Jeffries could be doing more to support them.
Julio Peña III — Brooklyn Can’t Wait’s pick to challenge Bichotte Hermelyn for chair — told POLITICO last week he appreciated Schumer and Jeffries coming out publicly against Bichotte Hermelyn’s maneuver, but said he has not spoken with either.
“I do think this does not send a good message that this power grab from straight out of the Republican playbook is happening in our own backyard in Brooklyn,” he said. “We would love if they can have conversations with either … individual district leaders, or the party chair, and just say like, ‘This needs to stop.’ We’re hopeful that that can still happen.”
When asked if he thinks they would have sway, he replied: “I would hope so.”
Chi Ossé, a progressive New York City Council member who briefly considered a primary challenge against Jeffries last year, wrote on social media that “a simple call or text to a couple of these district leaders” from Jeffries and Schumer “would’ve changed the results.”
“Either they don’t care about this affront to our democracy happening in their own backyard or people don’t take their leadership seriously,” he said.
The collective pushback is uncommon in a local battle — a reality Democratic strategist Evan Stavisky said highlights how this isn’t a “run-of-the-mill fight in Brooklyn.”
But both Schumer and Jeffries have more pressing priorities to deal with beyond Brooklyn. Control of Congress tops that list.
“Anything aside from that mission, no matter how important it is, has to take a backseat,” Stavisky said. “That’s why it’s remarkable [Jeffries] and Sen. Schumer both opined on this. Their job has to be winning tough races outside of the city of New York and outside the state of New York.”
When asked if Jeffries plans to get further involved in the Brooklyn battle, spokesperson Justin Chermol said the minority leader’s focus is on the midterms.
“Leader Jeffries has publicly and privately made clear that he opposes the Kings County Democratic Party rule change,” he said in a statement last week. “With 60 days left until the midterms, he is focused on battling Republicans, fighting for an Affordable America and taking back control of the United States House of Representatives so we can end this national nightmare.”
Schumer’s office did not respond to a request for comment.
Democrats are clear-eyed that what’s going on with their county party is a mess — and want to move on so they can focus on the midterms. But some pushed back on the idea that either Jeffries or Schumer should get further involved, arguing that issuing a statement was enough.
Lupe Todd-Medina, a political consultant and longtime Jeffries ally, contended that for some of Jeffries’ critics, no matter what he does, “it’s not enough.”
She questioned when he would even have the time to make calls to district leaders on this: “He’s got a lot going on,” she said. “You’re talking about a hyperlocal position.”
The fight is playing out in court. After the reformers unsuccessfully sought legal action in state Supreme Court to stop the rule-change vote, they sued again. That suit argues outgoing county committee members should not have been allowed to participate, and that if they were excluded, the amendments would have failed.
A ruling is still pending after a hearing Tuesday.
Bichotte Hermelyn has argued it was fair game to amend the county party’s internal rules and leadership structure — and she’s taking the drama in stride on social media. In a video posted last week, she questioned the outrage over “more people” being involved in the committee, insisted they “didn’t undo any election” and mocked her opponents, saying they had “been out-organized again.”
In between cuts of her eating a Haitian beef patty, Bichotte Hermelyn, the first Haitian-American woman elected to the state Assembly from New York City, said, “Melting down over a harmless rule change, but Haitians are being fired. That didn’t deserve a statement?”
The reference was to how, after the Trump administration ended temporary protected status for Haitians, Mamdani fired municipal employees who had the status. Bichotte Hermelyn wrote an op-ed questioning the move. The mayor said the city kept people on the payroll as long as legally possible.
A spokesperson for the Brooklyn Democratic Party did not respond to questions directed at Bichotte Hermelyn regarding communications with Schumer and Jeffries, or the court fight.
Amid all the division, some have floated the idea of a consensus candidate. But Peña said he doesn’t think the 22 district leaders supporting him will flip. (Twenty-two votes would constitute a majority under the original structure of the committee, but not after Bichotte Hermelyn’s changes.)
While Jeffries and Schumer spoke out against the changes, neither have explicitly put their weight behind either candidate.
A Brooklyn Democratic insider, granted anonymity to speak candidly, said it’s a “big mistake” to assume that Jeffries has a “magical allegiance to anyone.”
“It is not his responsibility to manage anyone’s campaign,” that person said. “It’s lazy for anyone to expect him to clean up messes.”
Frank Seddio, a former Brooklyn party head who’s now a district leader and helped orchestrate the latest rule changes, said he hasn’t heard from Jeffries or his team and that he doesn’t believe any other party members have either.
“I guess he’s staying out of it,” Seddio said. “It’s not his business … although he’s certainly someone I admire and respect and one of the most important people in the United States.”
The Brooklyn Democratic Party hasn’t been an integral organization to campaigning. In fact, some Democrats have accused Bichotte Hermelyn of actively helping Republican opponents and waging a legal battle to remove district leader candidates aligned with Brooklyn Can’t Wait from the ballot. But the party does have power in nominating judicial candidates, a process Peña and his allies say they want to make more transparent.
Bichotte Hermelyn has served as chair since 2020. The leadership vote that will decide her fate has yet to be scheduled, but party rules dictate that vote must take place by Oct. 6.
If she remains in her role, Lupo warned, it could become fodder for Republican attacks about the “evil specter of corrupt New York Democrats in Brooklyn.”
“It’s not like Hakeem Jeffries did this or Chuck Schumer did this,” he said. “It’s very different from Trump’s active interference in democracy, but it can be weaponized by Republicans if it goes through.”
Much of the concern is likely to quiet down if Democrats do retake Congress — and Schumer and Jeffries claim the highest leadership positions. But if they don’t, critics, especially from the left flank of the party, are likely to get even louder.
The latter scenario would make having a cohesive county party even more critical, said Basil Smikle, a former executive director of the New York Democratic Party.
“It does create vulnerability depending on what happens to Democrats nationally at the end of the cycle,” Smikle said. “There’ll be questions about Hakeem’s leadership and Chuck’s leadership. … If you don’t have a strong county organization pushing those voices back, those detractors back, that creates real vulnerability.”
Chris Sommerfeldt contributed to this report.
Read the full article here