Rodneyse Bichotte Hermelyn

Introduction

Rodneyse Bichotte Hermelyn, the New York assemblywoman who has led the Brooklyn Democratic Party since 2020, announced on September 28, 2026 that she will not seek another term as party chair, ending a six-year run marked by open warfare with the party’s reform wing. Her exit came one month after she pushed through a last-minute rule change designed to keep her in power despite reformers winning enough seats in the June primary to oust her — a move a court threw out and top Democrats including Mayor Zohran Mamdani condemned. It also followed a New York Post probe finding she and her allies collected $190,000 from judges and judicial candidates. Her successor is expected to be chosen at a party meeting on September 29.

Background Information

Born in Brooklyn in 1972 to Haitian immigrants, Bichotte Hermelyn worked as an electrical engineer, an investment banker at Bank of America and JPMorgan Chase, and a New York City math teacher before entering politics. First elected to the State Assembly’s 42nd District in 2014 and sworn in January 2015 — the first Haitian-American elected to the legislature from New York City — she became the chamber’s Majority Whip in 2023 and graduated from Brooklyn Law School in 2024. In January 2020 she succeeded Frank Seddio as chair of the Kings County Democratic Committee, making her the first woman and the first Black woman to lead the Brooklyn party.

The Controversy or Incident That Led to Their Cancellation

Allegations. The claims in this section are allegations from the Brooklyn Supreme Court lawsuit brought by reform-aligned district leaders, from reporting by The New York Post, and from criticism by elected Democrats. Nothing about the party rule change or the judicial contributions has been admitted by Bichotte Hermelyn, criminally charged, or finally adjudicated — the lower-court ruling against the rules is on appeal. She denies improper intent, says the rule changes were meant to make the party more inclusive, and has not conceded that the contributions were improper.

The trouble began with the June 23, 2026 primary. Reform-aligned district leaders affiliated with the New Kings Democrats won 22 of Brooklyn’s 42 district-leader seats — enough, had the old rules stood, to oust Bichotte Hermelyn when the party’s executive committee organized in the fall. On August 19 she proposed changes to the party rulebook that expanded the executive committee from 42 to 68 voting members, adding county committee officers and former party chairs — seats likely to side with her — and the changes were adopted at what critics called a secretive last-minute meeting. She framed the expansion as making the committee “more inclusive to have every day Brooklynites participate,” but reformers saw a gambit by an incumbent boss to retain power after losing an election. Mamdani accused her of trying to “circumvent the will of voters”; Schumer said “the party should not change the rules in the middle of the game”; James and state party chair Jay Jacobs also objected.

The reformers sued. A Brooklyn Supreme Court justice tossed the new rules earlier in September, finding the meeting where they passed was “improper” and that outgoing committee members “had no authority to vote … with respect to the rule amendments.” The party appealed, and an appellate stay allowed the county committee’s organizational meeting to proceed under the new rules — where dozens of new countywide officers, some of them voting members of the expanded committee, were voted in, though the chair’s job was left untouched. That vote was scheduled for September 29 and had been expected as a showdown between Bichotte Hermelyn and Julio Peña III, the district leader the reformers backed.

Compounding the pressure, a New York Post investigation found that Bichotte Hermelyn, her predecessor Frank Seddio and their allies collected $190,000 in campaign contributions and payments from more than 90 judges and judicial candidates since 2012. Critics called the donations a pay-to-play “shakedown” for party nominations; Ben Weinberg of the watchdog group Citizens Union said “the public’s confidence in the courts is undermined when judges appear dependent on party organizations for political support, endorsements, or advancement.” No authority has charged anyone over the contributions.

Public Reaction and Consequences

Within hours of the announcement on NY1’s “Inside City Hall,” the succession fight was underway. Bichotte Hermelyn told City & State she was backing Assembly Member Nikki Lucas — reportedly the only name put forward at a closed-door meeting of her allies, according to an attendee cited by the outlet — while the New Kings Democrats objected that “the Party Chair attempting to pick her own successor after she lost an election isn’t democratic,” and lawyers for the reform coalition planned to ask the courts to stay the vote. She was unbowed: “You can’t keep running to court because you don’t like rules… it’s politics. Deal with it.” In a statement to amNewYork and Brooklyn Paper she said the time had come “to pass the baton,” quoting Barbara Jordan on the “common good.” With the party boss standing down, control of one of the country’s largest Democratic county organizations is up for grabs.

Current Status

Bichotte Hermelyn remains the assemblywoman for the 42nd District and the Assembly’s Majority Whip — she is leaving the county chair’s job, not elected office. She told amNewYork and Brooklyn Paper she intends to remain “a part of the party leadership in some capacity” regardless of how the September 29 chair election comes out. The appellate court’s decision on the thrown-out rules was due before that meeting; if it upholds the lower court, the new rules will be axed and the results of the contested organizational meeting could unravel. For her part, she says she is leaving the party “stronger, more inclusive, more transparent.”

Impact on Their Career/Life

Bichotte Hermelyn made history as the first woman and the first Black woman to lead the Brooklyn Democratic Party, and her tenure brought changes she points to proudly — the party says it nominated more than 40 diverse judges between 2024 and 2026 and expanded its judicial screening panel. But her six years as boss ended the way they had devolved: outmaneuvered by reformers at the ballot box, accused of rewriting the rules to keep their victory from mattering, and stepping down with a court fight over her own party’s governance still live. Her assembly seat and political future survive; the county-boss era that made her one of New York’s most powerful Democratic insiders is over.

Sources

*NY Post, “Assemblywoman Rodneyse Bichotte Hermelyn won’t seek another term as Brooklyn Democratic Party chair”, 29 September 2026 — source
*Spectrum News NY1, “Rodneyse Bichotte Hermelyn will not seek reelection as Brooklyn Dem Party chair”, 28 September 2026 — source
*amNewYork, “Brooklyn Democratic Party boss Rodneyse Bichotte Hermelyn stepping down from post”, 28 September 2026 — source
*Brooklyn Paper, “Brooklyn Dems boss Bichotte Hermelyn to step down amid party power struggle”, 28 September 2026 — source
*City & State New York, “Rodneyse Bichotte Hermelyn backs Nikki Lucas as Brooklyn Dems chair”, 28 September 2026 — source
*Wikipedia, “Rodneyse Bichotte Hermelyn” — source