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They finally did it. A group of reformers who have been fighting for years to overthrow the Brooklyn Democratic Party leadership on Tuesday won the majority they need to take over the county party and oust its chair, Rodneyse Bichotte Hermelyn.
As most eyes were on the democratic socialists who won several of the city's congressional and assembly races Tuesday night, members of the New Kings Democrats, a grassroots political club, were closely watching a series of downballot district leader races in Brooklyn. They were hoping to see enough of the members on their slate of candidates win their seats—which would give reformists a long-awaited majority on the 42-member executive committee of the Brooklyn Democratic Party, and the power to appoint a new leader.
"We were sitting around the table, watching this thing happen, and as the results came in, we were like, 'We think Rodneyse may have a real problem,'" said Mark Hanna, a district leader and election lawyer for the New Kings Democrats. "Then all of a sudden, once [district leader candidate] Carmella Charrington was the last one to get above her opponent's number, I could have screamed. Like, oh shit, we did it!"
"As long as the coalition stays together," Hanna added, "we can elect whoever the hell we want."