Overview
- A coalition led by New Kings Democrats and Brooklyn Can’t Wait says 22 district leaders have pledged support for Julio Peña to replace Rodneyse Bichotte Hermelyn as Brooklyn Democratic Party chair.
- Those pledged votes follow a wave of recent district leader upsets that gave reform-aligned candidates control of most contested seats in the borough’s executive committee.
- The county executive committee will formally elect the chair in September, so the coalition must stay unified through that vote to complete the leadership change.
- Reformers say their top priorities are remaking the judicial screening process and directing party resources to win back Southern Brooklyn statehouse races, while some incumbents warn of possible last-minute rule changes to retain control.
- District leaders are unpaid volunteers who make endorsements and vet judicial candidates, so a change in county leadership would shift who the party backs in local races and which judges advance to the bench.