Brooklyn’s simmering Democratic family feud just got a leading man. The borough’s insurgent reform coalition, Brooklyn Can’t Wait, has tapped Sunset Park district leader Julio Peña as its pick to run the county Democratic Party, saying it now holds a razor-thin majority of the powerful executive committee and will move to unseat longtime chair Assemblywoman Rodneyse Bichotte Hermelyn this fall. The showdown is slated for a September vote that could upend how endorsements and party business are handled across the borough.
Peña emerges as the coalition's pick
As reported by NY1, the reform bloc, led in part by the New Kings Democrats, has lined up behind Peña, a lifelong Sunset Park resident who once chaired Community Board 7 and now runs an after-school program for the Chinese American Planning Council. Peña told the outlet that the movement "wants to turn the page," and said his top priority would be "beating back Republicans."
Chair pushes back
The incumbent county leader, Assemblywoman Rodneyse Bichotte Hermelyn, has been at the helm of the Brooklyn Democrats since 2020 and is not exactly easing toward the exits. In a statement to the Brooklyn Eagle, she asked, "Are reformers trying to dismantle 'the machine' or inherit the party that I rebuilt and reformed?" She added that she welcomes reform while standing by the changes she says she has already made inside the organization.
Who's backing Peña
Brooklyn Can’t Wait says it has secured 22 district leader votes, a slim edge on the executive committee that will decide who runs the party. The coalition mixes incoming district leaders with a roster of prominent elected officials. BKReader reports that supporters range from Congresswoman Nydia Velázquez to Borough President Antonio Reynoso, along with several state senators and City Council members. On its website, Brooklyn Can’t Wait promotes a pledge that centers transparency, an end to what it calls "bossism," and reviving the party’s often dormant committee structure.
Why reformers say change is needed
Behind the current power play are years of frustration over how the party has been run. Critics have pointed to contested petition challenges, the use of proxy votes and what they describe as irregular appointments to key posts, fueling a long-running insurgency inside Brooklyn’s Democratic ranks. Gotham Gazette has detailed a series of controversies that reformers cite as proof that they need control of the county apparatus to clean up internal operations.
What happens next
The coalition now has one big job: hold its fragile majority together until the executive committee votes in September. Organizers say they are confident they can stick the landing. As NY1 notes, if Peña succeeds in winning the chair, the party could change how it hands out endorsements and manages its internal affairs, a shift that might reshape local races across Brooklyn for years to come.
