Want to get up to speed on the Brooklyn Democratic Party saga that is apparently still playing out? Here's a rundown on all the recent players and court proceedings, informed by our exhaustively researched project, Courts of Contempt: an investigation into New York City's broken judicial selection system.
All this hullaballoo started in June, when the folks in charge of the Brooklyn county machine—which has the power to choose judges, appoint people to fill legislative vacancies, and direct fundraising to local candidates—LOST a bloc of district leader votes in the Democratic primary elections. That meant they no longer had the votes to keep control of the party at this fall's convention.
Brooklyn Democratic Party Chair Rodneyse Bichotte Hermelyn and her establishment cronies attempted to change the party rules in late August so more of her allies could vote for her to stay in power. Those rules were swiftly deemed illegal by a state Supreme Court judge.
There was much legal back and forth, a few defiant AI videos, and some spicy NY1 appearances before Bichotte Hermelyn announced she won't be running for reelection as chair after all, instead throwing her support behind an ally: Assemblymember Nikki Lucas.
Then in September, the party held a shambolic organizational meeting, where we pick up our cursed timeline: