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Brooklyn Dems face reckoning after party chair attacks her own side in contested race
By
Andrew Giambrone
Published Nov 10, 2023
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By
Andrew Giambrone
Published Nov 10, 2023
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New York City Councilmember Justin Brannan is riding high after a landslide victory over his Council colleague Ari Kagan this week — but it was as much a win against his Republican opponent as it was over some of his fellow Democrats, including the leader of Brooklyn’s Democratic Party.
In the runup to Election Day in the 47th District — a closely watched race on the borough’s south end — state Assemblymember Rodneyse Bichotte Hermelyn, the Brooklyn Democratic Party chair, openly attacked Brannan, her party’s candidate, and appeared to be actively helping the Republican ticket.
As early voting got underway in late October, Kagan’s campaign resurfaced a 7-year-old lawsuit by a former Council staffer who’d worked in the same councilmember’s office as Brannan. In 2021 the staffer received a six-figure settlement payment from the city over alleged harassment by his coworkers in former Councilmember Vincent Gentile’s office. Brannan was not named in the lawsuit and has long denied involvement in any misconduct.
But in a move that astonished many political observers, Bichotte Hermelyn issued a barbed statement defending the accuser and casting aspersions on Brannan, after the New York Post published a story on the allegations.
“Some have asked for Justin Brannan’s resignation, which I have not taken a position on, as we wait for all the facts to come to light about these disturbing incidents,” she said.
Her statement was immediately condemned by Brannan’s campaign, which labeled her a political opponent. That condemnation was later joined by several local Democratic clubs and more than a dozen Brooklyn Democratic Party district leaders who said she was acting against the party’s best interests by amplifying GOP talking points and undermining Brannan.
“The Brooklyn Democratic Party should be the beating heart of organizing efforts with a single, crystal clear goal: electing Democratic candidates that will do right by the people of Brooklyn, full stop,” said the clubs, including Bay Ridge Democrats, Brooklyn Young Democrats, and New Kings Democrats. “The party organization should not be a weapon that one person wields to settle petty, personal scores at the expense of southern Brooklyn communities.”
But Bichotte Hermelyn, a close ally of Mayor Eric Adams, only doubled down, saying she was “deeply disturbed by Brannan and members of our Party … ignoring and deflecting” the former Council staffer’s allegations.
“I will not back down from urging Democrats to push for accountability, even amongst our own Party, and especially during elections,” she said.
But then a new and confusing twist emerged.
On Election Day, Kagan’s campaign distributed literature quoting extensively from Bichotte Hermelyn’s original statement “denouncing Justin Brannan,” Politico reported. In response, the party chair decried the literature as a “dirty campaign trick” and said the Brooklyn Dems stood “steadfast” behind Brannan.
However bizarre the behavior may have seemed to outside observers, Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso, a frequent critic of the party machine, said Bichotte Hermelyn’s shifting stances were standard fare for party leaders.
“[They] do everything in their power to try and derail a local Democrat[’s] campaign and then act like they were all in the whole time,” he wrote on X, two hours before polls closed.
“We see you,” he added.
On Thursday, Reynoso told Gothamist he was “angered but not surprised” by the party’s behavior.
“Brooklynites can see right through the Brooklyn Democratic Party’s shenanigans, and the re-election of Council Member Justin Brannan shows that the power of everyday Brooklynites will always beat machine politics,” he said in a statement.
Brannan defeated Kagan by more than 3,200 votes out of roughly 19,000 votes cast, according to preliminary results from the city Board of Elections.
‘A change is long past due’
The intraparty feuding has laid bare simmering tensions in the politics of the city’s most populous borough, pitting the old-guard party machine, largely based in central Brooklyn, against power centers in other areas.
Brannan and Bichotte Hermelyn’s beef has only inflamed those tensions: He called for her to go as party chair at his election party Tuesday night — and she clapped back the next day, calling his remarks “disappointing.”
“My job is to deliver wins for Brooklyn, and we delivered major victories in contested races and across the board,” she said in a statement to Gothamist on Wednesday. “I personally congratulated Justin last night and am happy for his win — with the Brooklyn Democratic Party fully supporting him.”
Local Democratic activists in the newly drawn district — encompassing Bay Ridge, Coney Island and parts of Bath Beach — expressed rancor about the party leadership’s conduct around the race.
“This year, they did not forget us, but instead of helping out, they actively got in the way,” Bay Ridge Democrats wrote on X. “A change is long past due.”
It’s rare for the party not to support a Democratic incumbent in a contested election, said George Arzt, a New York City-based political consultant who served as a spokesperson for former Mayor Ed Koch and previously did work for the Brooklyn Democratic Party. Arzt said Brannan is in a strong position after the election, including as chair of the Council’s powerful finance committee.
“He is popular with the members of the City Council and with other elected officials, so that helps him a great deal,” Arzt noted, saying the conflict between Brannan and Bichotte Hermelyn likely goes back to the high-stakes race for Council speaker in late 2021.
Brannan initially vied for the speakership — among several other councilmembers — and after withdrawing his candidacy he threw his support behind Adrienne Adams of Southeast Queens, who was ultimately elected as the Council’s first Black speaker.
Then-Mayor-elect Eric Adams, who has deep ties to Bichotte Hermelyn and the Brooklyn Democratic Party apparatus, worked behind the scenes to boost Francisco Moya of northern Queens — putting Brannan at odds with the county party’s bosses.
Charges of collusion
In an interview with Gothamist on Wednesday, Brannan declined to speculate about Bichotte Hermelyn’s motives for attacking him in the final days of his campaign but accused the party chair of “colluding” with Kagan’s campaign.
“We’re at less than zero here,” Brannan said of his relationship with Bichotte Hermelyn and the party leadership. “It would be one thing if, for whatever reason, she decided to stay neutral, but then to actually proactively get involved and try to help my opponent win — that just takes it to a different level that I don't think [is] forgivable.”
“I don’t think she should be the county leader after that behavior,” he continued.
Brannan added that although he isn’t a district leader and lacks a vote in party affairs, others who are have privately reached out to him, offering their support.
“Some folks who you might not expect have become allies because of her actions in this race, and they want her to resign,” the councilmember said. “And it's not a small amount of people.”
Brannan also argued that Bichotte Hermelyn’s purported efforts to undermine him backfired by galvanizing local voters in his favor.
“We suddenly had an influx of volunteers after she picked the fight with me, because people just could not believe just the malpractice and the dereliction of duty as a county leader,” he said. “I think it fired a lot of people up.”
Later on Wednesday, Mayor Adams publicly congratulated Brannan on his victory and positively compared the two of them as “working class New York City kid[s]” from Brooklyn.
“I'm so glad to know that my friend and colleague is returning to the City Council this January,” said Adams, who endorsed Brannan last month.
Asked about his relationship with the mayor in light of the borough party’s antagonism toward him, Brannan said they’ve known each other a long time, speak often about the city’s finances, and have a good rapport “away from the noise.”
Arzt, the political consultant, said Brannan and Adams have a “transactional” relationship by virtue of their respective roles as legislator and executive. “It depends upon what the issue is before the Council,” he said.
As for Brannan and Bichotte Hermelyn, Arzt said, “it’s not a good situation,” but added that voters are likely sick of infighting.
“In my view, it’s best if vengeance is served cold rather than in the heat of the moment,” he said. “I think people are sick of wars in politics and elsewhere on the globe, and it's best to measure what you say before you let the words flow out of your mouth.”
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Politics
brooklyn democratic party
new york city
Adrienne Adams
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justin brannan
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eric adams
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