New York Assemblywoman Rodneyse Bichotte Hermelyn won’t seek another term as the head of the Brooklyn Democratic Party after a six-year run amid infighting in the party, she announced Monday evening.
“I’m now up to my next chapter in life, and I’ve served as the Brooklyn Democratic Party chair for over six years. And I’m very proud of what we’ve done. We’ve built a very strong organization,” she announced on NY1’s “Inside City Hall.”
The state lawmaker who represents central Brooklyn also said the party’s executive committee will expand to be “more inclusive to have every day Brooklynites participate.”
“So, I’m just really excited that I am leaving the party in that capacity, a stronger, more inclusive, more transparent party and I’m just really excited,” she said.
Bichotte Hermelyn’s shock announcement comes about a month after she pushed through a last-minute rule change in an attempt to stay in power as the new, lefty socialist wing of the party fought to take the reins.
Mayor Zohran Mamdani accused the party chair of trying to “circumvent the will of voters” after she proposed dramatically increasing the number of voting members who will pick the next party chair.
A group of reform-oriented Dems, New Kings Democrats, won a swath of 22 district leader seats in the June primary — enough to oust Bichotte Hermelyn from her longtime leadership role if she hadn’t resigned.
“I very much oppose these proposed changes, by the current Brooklyn Democratic Party chair,” Mamdani said on Aug. 24. “I oppose them because they are an attempt to circumnavigate the will of voters.”
The New Kings Democrats sued Bichotte Hermelyn over her attempt to rewrite the party rulebook, demanding a Brooklyn Supreme Court judge halt the move that ultimately passed.
Dems at all levels of local government have slammed the eleventh-hour change, including state Party Chair Jay Jacobs, New York Attorney General Letitia James and Sen. Chuck Schumer.
“Given the clear results of the June Democratic primary in Brooklyn, the party should not change the rules in the middle of the game,” Schumer said at the time.
The proposed changes — including upping the number of executive committee members from 42 to 68 — garnered the support needed to be adopted last month, opening up a pathway for Bichotte Hermelyn to get enough votes to stay chair, overcoming the New King Democrats’ gains.
With the party boss’s decision to not seek reelection, control of the party is now up for grabs.
Her announcement also follows an exclusive probe by The Postthat found Bichotte Hermelyn, her party chair predecessor Frank Seddio and their allies have collected $190,000 in campaign contributions and payments from more than 90 judges and judicial candidates since 2012, when Seddio took control of the local committee.
Critics slammed the donations as a pay-to-play “shakedown” in exchange for party nominations and claimed sitting judges circumvented rules meant to keep them outside of the partisan campaign process. Others said judicial candidates are pressured to attend the Party’s events and pay for costly tickets — or face losing their nominations.
“The public’s confidence in the courts is undermined when judges appear dependent on party organizations for political support, endorsements, or advancement,” said Ben Weinberg, public policy director of government watchdog group Citizens Union.
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