Brooklyn Dems Expand Board to Block Reformers, Sparking Legal Fight

Brooklyn's Democratic Party chair Rodneyse Bichotte Hermelyn pushed amendments to the party bylaws to expand the executive committee with her allies and block reformer Julio Peña III from taking the chair; the measures passed in a closed-door executive committee vote, drawing immediate pushback from Peña and reformers who say the process was illegal and vow to sue. The move drew criticism from state and city leaders, while Peña's leadership election remains delayed into the fall.