Rodneyse Bichotte Hermelyn (born December 2, 1972) is an American politician who serves as the Assembly Member for the 42nd District of the New York State Assembly. She is a

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (United States) (D) **Democratic ...

. The district includes portions of

East Flatbush East Flatbush is a residential neighborhood in the New York City borough of Brooklyn. East Flatbush is bounded by Crown Heights and Empire Boulevard to the north; Brownsville and East 98th Street to the east; Flatlands, Canarsie and the ...

, Flatbush, Ditmas Park, and

Midwood Midwood is a neighborhood in the south-central part of the New York City borough of Brooklyn. It is bounded on the north by the Bay Ridge Branch tracks just above Avenue I and by the Brooklyn College campus of the City University of New York, a ...

, in

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

. Bichotte Hermelyn was the first Haitian-American to be elected to the State Legislature from New York City, as well as Chair of the Kings County Democratic Committee.

Early life and education

Bichotte Hermelyn was born and raised in

Brooklyn, New York Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

to Haitian immigrants, and attended public schools, graduating from

LaGuardia High School Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts, often referred to simply as LaGuardia, is a public high school specializing in teaching visual arts and performing arts, located near Lincoln Center in the Lincoln Square n ...

. She has a B.S. in electrical engineering from SUNY Buffalo, a B.S. in mathematics in secondary education and a B.T. in electrical engineering from

Buffalo State College The State University of New York College at Buffalo (colloquially referred to as Buffalo State College, SUNY Buffalo State, Buffalo State, or simply Buff State) is a public college in Buffalo, New York. It is part of the State University of New ...

, an M.B.A from

Northwestern University Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston, Illinois. Founded in 1851, Northwestern is the oldest chartered university in Illinois and is ranked among the most prestigious academic institutions in the world. Charte ...

, and an M.S. from the

Illinois Institute of Technology Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT) is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Tracing its history to 1890, the present name was adopted upon the merger of the Armour Institute and Lewis Institute in 1940. The university has prog ...

. She is also an alumna of

The White House Project The White House Project was an American non-profit organization, which worked to increase female representation in American institutions, businesses, and government. Its main programs focused on female leadership and campaign training and the po ...

, a leadership program created by Brooklyn College. On January 1, 2020, she married Brooklyn District Leader Edu Hermelyn.

Career

Prior to public service, Bichotte Hermelyn was an engineer working in Japan and China. She is known as an avid traveler, and has traveled to seven countries on the continent of

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

, as well as several countries in

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an are ...

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...

Latin America Latin America or * french: Amérique Latine, link=no * ht, Amerik Latin, link=no * pt, América Latina, link=no, name=a, sometimes referred to as LatAm is a large cultural region in the Americas where Romance languages — languages derived f ...

and the

Middle East The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Province), East Thrace (Europ ...

, including

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

. Bichotte Hermelyn serves as a Democratic District Leader for her district in Brooklyn.

New York Assembly

In 2012, Bichotte Hermelyn opted to take on longtime Assemblywoman Rhoda Jacobs, who despite fast-changing demographic shifts had won the 42nd District easily as a white, Jewish woman in an African-American, Caribbean community. Bichotte Hermelyn, who is of Haitian descent, challenged Jacobs in the Democratic primary, but lost to the incumbent 67% to 32%. The following cycle in 2014, Jacobs decided to retire, and Bichotte Hermelyn announced her campaign for the Assembly. In a four-way primary, Bichotte Hermelyn won the nomination with 48% of the vote. In the safely-Democratic seat, she went on to win the general election with over 90% of the vote. Bichotte Hermelyn was sworn into office on January 1, 2015, with New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio administering the oath of office. In the Assembly, she serves as Chair of the Subcommittee on Oversight of Minority and Women-Owned Business Enterprises (MWBEs). In 2023, Bichotte Hermelyn was appointed Majority Whip for the Democratic Caucus of the New York State Assembly.

Brooklyn Democratic Party

In January 2020, Bichotte Hermelyn was chosen to succeed Frank Seddio as Brooklyn Democratic Party Chair, making her both the first woman and first African-American woman to lead a county party in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

. In August 2022, a closed-door meeting of the Brooklyn Democratic Party Executive Committee voted to consolidate power in Bichotte Hermelyn's hands, where the Committee passed several rule changes meant to blunt the ability of the newly-elected County Committee reformist bloc to enact democratizing reforms.

References

External links

New York State Assemblywoman Rodneyse Bichotte Hermelyn
''official site'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Bichotte, Rodneyse 1972 births 21st-century American politicians 21st-century American women politicians American people of Haitian descent Living people Democratic Party members of the New York State Assembly People from Brooklyn University at Buffalo alumni Women state legislators in New York (state)