Nikki Lucas, prospective Brooklyn Democratic Party chair, sued over campaign debts

Assembly Member Nikki Lucas, Rodneyse Bichotte Hermelyn’s pick to succeed her as leader of the Brooklyn Democratic Party, is being sued over debts associated with her 2021 City Council campaign, City & State has learned.

Attorney Ed Hartzog contends that Lucas owes him more than $6,000 dollars for legal services he provided her while she ran for outgoing Council Member Inez Barron’s seat in East New York five years ago. That includes two outstanding invoices, one totaling $1,500 for compliance counsel services provided during 2021 and another totaling $4,651.84 for litigation fees and expenditures dated August 2021, according to documents reviewed by City & State. (Lucas ultimately lost the 2021 City Council race to Inez’s husband Charles Barron, but she went on to win his state Assembly seat in a special election in 2022. Lucas has represented the district ever since.) 

After multiple requests to her campaign for payment were unsuccessful, Hartzog sued Lucas in New York County Civil Court this July. While a hearing had been set for Sept. 30, it was adjourned and rescheduled for Feb. 8 after Lucas didn’t appear. 

Separately, Steve Kramer, president of political consulting firm Get Out the Vote, told City & State that Lucas owes him around $2,000 for voter mobilization services he provided to her 2021 campaign. It’s not unusual for a candidate to carry some debt from previous campaigns, but while Kramer said he doesn’t intend to sue over the outstanding amount, he argued that the prospective chair of the Brooklyn Democratic Party shouldn’t have unsettled campaign debts.

Vernon Jones, a spokesperson for Lucas, referred to the invoices as “disputed” and said they “are under review.” 

Lucas, if allowed by the courts to remain leader of the party, would preside over an organization with its own debt issues. The political machine has historically played an important role in boosting candidates for office, nominating judges and organizing Brooklyn Democrats. Though its influence in the political ecosystem has waned over time, the party still wields considerable resources – both in members and its ability to fundraise. It also has a history of debt. The party reportedly owed more than $226,000 when its former chair, Frank Seddio, passed the reins to Bichotte Hermelyn in 2020. While Bichotte Hermelyn turned the party’s finances around in the ensuing years, a string of recent legal challenges has led the reformist district leaders who oppose her to again raise concerns about the party’s financial standing. 

The party’s county committee reported $431,207.60 in the bank at the end of the most recent filing period, according to a July 15 filing with the state Board of Elections – far more than it had in the bank in 2020. But it also reported a $288,587.47 debt to Abrams Fensterman LLP, the party’s longtime law firm, and a $41,462.50 debt to Grassi, an accounting firm. It’s unclear where those currently stand or what specific legal work the payment to Abrams Fensterman covered. Bichotte Hermelyn did not respond to a request for comment about the party’s finances, but the party filed multiple legal challenges against reformist district leader candidates in an attempt to knock them from the ballot for the June primary. It’s unclear how much the latest legal fight is costing. 

Bichotte Hermelyn, Lucas and their allies are currently locked in a battle with a coalition of reformist district leaders over the future of the county party. This very long, complicated saga kicked off in June when the coalition won a majority of seats on the party’s executive committee, essentially giving them the power to oust Bichotte Hermelyn and appoint one of their own as leader – or so they thought. Concerned that the reformers would vote her out of power, Bichotte Hermelyn held a vote to approve rules adding dozens of new members to the committee. Reformers sued, ultimately winning in both the lower and appeals courts, but the battle has continued. (Hellgate has a solid timeline of the chaos.) 

On Oct. 5, an increasingly desperate Bichotte Hermelyn and allies held a virtual meeting where they voted – potentially in violation of a court order – to make Lucas chair of the party. Lawyers for the reformist coalition immediately filed paperwork asking the judge to hold participants in contempt of court. That contempt hearing is currently scheduled for Oct. 19.

Lucas has come under additional scrutiny as her profile has risen during the leadership battle. . In 2021, she was one of eight people named in a 2021 deed theft suit, which claimed she’d helped transfer ownership of a $3.4 million-valued Southern Baptist Church in East New York for free, the New York Post reported. 

She also paid more than $7,400 in traffic tickets over the past five years, including over $1,700 in late fees and interest, Politico New York recently reported. But she’s not entirely in the clear – as of two weeks ago, she was reportedly overdue on two tickets issued over the summer totaling $500.