The day after Brooklyn Democratic Party Chair Rodneyse Bichotte Hermelyn announced she's not seeking reelection, a state appeals court dealt her legacy another blow.
The panel of judges deemed Bichotte Hermelyn's last-minute "power grab" rules illegal once more, all but sinking her allies' chances of clawing back control of the party.
The judges dropped their decision Tuesday afternoon, just hours before the party was set to meet and vote on a new chair. They found that Bichotte Hermelyn's new rules are "invalid" according to the party's own bylaws, agreeing with Brooklyn state Supreme Court Judge Jill Epstein, who earlier ruled the "power grab" rules were illegal because they were voted in by outgoing district leaders who lost their elections.
"The Supreme Court properly determined that under the Party Rules, outgoing members of the Executive Committee were not authorized to vote in the special meeting, and accordingly, the amendments that passed on August 25, 2026, are invalid," the judges wrote.
As a result, the reformist bloc of the party is now closer than ever to wresting power from the old guard and electing their chosen new chair: Julio Peña III.
"The appellate division upheld small-d democracy in our party, reaffirmed the will of the voters, and I look forward to governing with integrity, transparency, and inclusiveness," Peña III told Hell Gate in a text Tuesday afternoon.
