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 The New York State Assembly is the lower house of the New York State Legislature, with the New York State Senate being the upper house. There are 150 seats in the Assembly. Assembly members serve two-year terms without term limits. The Ass ...

. 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 (Cyprus) (DCY) **Democratic Part ...

. 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 Lon ...

Flatbush Flatbush is a neighborhood in the New York City Borough (New York City), borough of Brooklyn. The neighborhood consists of several subsections in central Brooklyn and is generally bounded by Prospect Park (Brooklyn), Prospect Park to the nort ...

Ditmas Park Ditmas Park is a historic district in the neighborhood of Flatbush in Brooklyn, New York City. The traditional boundaries of Ditmas Park, including Ditmas Park West, are Ocean Avenue and greater Flatbush to the east, Dorchester Road and the Pr ...

, and

Midwood Midwood is a neighborhood in the south-central part of the New York City borough (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 ...

, in

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

. Bichotte Hermelyn was the first Haitian-American to be elected to the

State Legislature A state legislature is a Legislature, legislative branch or body of a State (country subdivision), political subdivision in a Federalism, federal system. Two federations literally use the term "state legislature": * The legislative branches of ...

from New York City, as well as Chair of the

Kings County Democratic Committee The Brooklyn Democratic Party, officially the Kings County Democratic County Committee, is the county committee of the Democratic Party in the New York City borough of Brooklyn (Kings County). It is the most local level of party governance in Ne ...

Early life and education

Bichotte Hermelyn was born and raised in

Brooklyn, New York Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

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 or "LaG", is a public high school specializing in teaching visual arts and performing arts, near Lincoln Center in the Lincoln Square ...

. She has a B.S. in electrical engineering from

SUNY Buffalo The State University of New York at Buffalo (commonly referred to as UB, University at Buffalo, and sometimes SUNY Buffalo) is a public research university in Buffalo and Amherst, New York, United States. The university was founded in 1846 as ...

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

, an M.B.A from

Northwestern University Northwestern University (NU) is a Private university, private research university in Evanston, Illinois, United States. Established in 1851 to serve the historic Northwest Territory, it is the oldest University charter, chartered university in ...

, and an M.S. from the

Illinois Institute of Technology The Illinois Institute of Technology, commonly referred to as Illinois Tech and IIT, is a Private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Tracing its history to 1890, the present name was adopted upon the m ...

. 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 Brooklyn College is a public university in Brooklyn in New York City, United States. It is part of the City University of New York system and enrolls nearly 14,000 students on a campus in the Midwood and Flatbush sections of Brooklyn as of fall ...

. On January 1, 2020, she married Brooklyn

District Leader The results of elections in the state of New York have tended to be more Democratic-leaning than in most of the United States, with in recent decades a solid majority of Democratic voters, concentrated in New York City and some of its suburbs, i ...

Edu Hermelyn.

Career

Prior to public service, Bichotte Hermelyn was an engineer working in

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

and

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

. 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. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...

, as well as several countries in

Asia Asia ( , ) is the largest continent in the world by both land area and population. It covers an area of more than 44 million square kilometres, about 30% of Earth's total land area and 8% of Earth's total surface area. The continent, which ...

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

Latin America Latin America is the cultural region of the Americas where Romance languages are predominantly spoken, primarily Spanish language, Spanish and Portuguese language, Portuguese. Latin America is defined according to cultural identity, not geogr ...

and the

Middle East The Middle East (term originally coined in English language) is a geopolitical region encompassing the Arabian Peninsula, the Levant, Turkey, Egypt, Iran, and Iraq. The term came into widespread usage by the United Kingdom and western Eur ...

, including

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

. 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 The mayor of New York City, officially mayor of the City of New York, is head of the executive branch of the government of New York City and the chief executive of New York City. The mayor's office administers all city services, public property, ...

Bill de Blasio Bill de Blasio (; born Warren Wilhelm Jr., May 8, 1961; later Warren de Blasio-Wilhelm) is an American politician who was the List of mayors of New York City, 109th mayor of New York City, mayor of New York City from 2014 to 2021. A member of t ...

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 A whip is an official of a political party whose task is to ensure party discipline (that members of the party vote according to the party platform rather than their constituents, individual conscience or donors) in a legislature. Whips a ...

for the Democratic Caucus of the New York State Assembly. In December 2020, Governor

Andrew Cuomo Andrew Mark Cuomo ( , ; born December 6, 1957) is an American politician and lawyer who served as the 56th governor of New York from 2011 until his resignation in 2021. A member of the Democratic Party and son of former governor Mario Cuomo, ...

sign Assemblywoman Hermelyn's bill into a law called Jonah Bichotte Cowan's Law. This statewide law prevents hospital employees from turning away pregnant women with a history of health problems.

Brooklyn Democratic Party

In January 2020, Bichotte Hermelyn was chosen to succeed

Frank Seddio Frank R. Seddio (born October 14, 1946) is an American politician and lawyer who served as a member of the New York State Assembly representing southeastern Brooklyn from 1999 to 2005 before serving as a Kings County Surrogate Court Judge from ...

Brooklyn Democratic Party The Brooklyn Democratic Party, officially the Kings County Democratic County Committee, is the county committee of the Democratic Party in the New York City borough of Brooklyn (Kings County). It is the most local level of party governance in Ne ...

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 (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. In August 2022, a closed-door meeting of the Brooklyn Democratic Party Executive Committee voted to consolidate power in her 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 women politicians American people of Haitian descent Living people Democratic Party members of the New York State Assembly Politicians from Brooklyn University at Buffalo alumni Women state legislators in New York (state) 21st-century members of the New York State Legislature