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New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani is opposing a last-minute push to overhaul Brooklyn Democratic Party rules, arguing the proposed changes would undermine voters after reformers made gains in the June primary.
“I very much oppose these proposed changes, by the current Brooklyn Democratic Party chair,” Mamdani said. “I oppose them because they are an attempt to circumnavigate the will of voters.”
The proposals from Brooklyn Democratic Party chair Rodneyse Bichotte Hermelyn would add more than two dozen voting members to the party’s executive committee, which will choose the party chair this fall, after a slate of reformers won 22 district leader seats in the June primary, according to the City Reporter.
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The newly elected district leaders will not take their seats until the fall, and Bichotte Hermelyn and her supporters still hold a majority as current district leaders prepare to vote on the proposed changes Tuesday night, according to the outlet.
Bichotte Hermelyn has described the changes as an effort to broaden participation in the party.
“We want to create a perception of inclusiveness,” she told NY1. In a video released by the Brooklyn Democratic organization, she said the proposals would “expand leadership” and “expand representation.”
The reformers have backed longtime Sunset Park district leader Julio Peña to become the next party chair. If the proposed changes pass, the additional voting members would take part in the fall leadership election.
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Mamdani said the Brooklyn Democratic Party should reflect what New Yorkers want, rather than the kind of politics that has left people “disengaged and disaffected with politics at large.”
New York Attorney General Letitia James and Public Advocate Jumaane Williams have also urged the party not to move forward with the changes.
“New Yorkers deserve leaders who are committed to serving their communities, not rewriting rules to hold onto power,” they said in a joint statement obtained by City and State New York. “Changing the makeup of an executive committee on the eve of a leadership vote goes against what we believe in as Democrats and should not move forward.”
Another proposal would give former party chairs a vote in future leadership elections even after they are no longer district leaders.
According to the City Reporter, that appears to mean former party chair Clarence Norman could vote on future party leadership. Norman resigned in 2005 after multiple corruption convictions, including one for soliciting bribes from judicial nominees.
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After the leadership election, another proposed change would allow additional voting members to be appointed from each Assembly district, potentially bringing the executive committee to about 90 members.
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