New Kings Democrats and Brooklyn Can't Wait say they have 22 of 42 district leader pledges for Julio Peña to replace Rodneyse Bichotte Hermelyn as Brooklyn Democratic Party chair — the math locked in by an eight-seat district leader sweep on June 23.

A reform coalition built around New Kings Democrats and Brooklyn Can't Wait says it has secured a majority of Brooklyn's Democratic district leaders and will move to oust Assemblymember Rodneyse Bichotte Hermelyn as county party chair when those leaders vote this fall.

Twenty-two of the borough's 42 district leaders have pledged to support district leader Julio Peña for the chairmanship — a bare but sufficient majority. At a formal selection meeting on July 10, the NKD-aligned coalition voted to back Peña, according to The City Reporter, which first reported the organizing effort on July 17.

The math traces directly to the June 23 primaries. NKD and Brooklyn Can't Wait-aligned candidates flipped eight of nine contested district leader races that night, bringing the coalition to 22 seats. Prior to that sweep — which also returned democratic socialist wins in several congressional districts across the city — the reform bloc lacked the votes to act; afterward, it held the majority.

Peña has served as a district leader for several years and chaired Brooklyn Community Board 7, which spans parts of Sunset Park and Windsor Terrace; he works at the Chinese-American Planning Council running afterschool programs. "I do think that Rodneyse has tried," he told The City Reporter. "I don't think the way in which she tried was very helpful or productive. The past six years have not been great, and I do think the party has an important role, but has really kind of missed the mark."

"This transfer of power that we're seeing now is something that's never happened before in Brooklyn," NKD president Tony Melone told the outlet, adding that the new cohort of district leaders "don't have to take orders from Frank Seddio or Frank Carone or any of the other shadowy figures that have run the party for so long."

Bichotte Hermelyn took the chair in 2020 as Seddio's handpicked successor, but her tenure grew contentious. Republicans gained ground in Southern Brooklyn in 2022 and again in 2024 — the latter cycle marred by reports that Bichotte Hermelyn used party funds to fend off internal district leader challengers, and by her own admission to the New York Post that she helped get a Democratic Assembly candidate thrown off the ballot, leaving the 49th Assembly District race uncontested for Republican Lester Chang. More recently, the Brooklyn Democratic Party rescinded its endorsement of Gov. Kathy Hochul after Hochul picked former City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams as her lieutenant governor candidate — a move State Senator Andrew Gounardes publicly called "embarrassing."

Bichotte Hermelyn did not return The City Reporter's request for comment, nor did a Brooklyn Democratic Party spokesperson.

The formal district leader vote on party chair is held every other fall. If the 22-vote pledge holds, it would be the first time NKD's reform campaign — which dates to 2008 — has toppled the Brooklyn county machine from within.