Kings County Democratic Party Chair Frank Seddio today blasted the state Democratic Party’s nonbinding resolution to kick State Sen. Simcha Felder (D-Midwood, Flatbush, Borough Park, Kensington, Sunset Park, Madison, Bensonhurst) out of the party for caucusing with the senate chamber Republicans and thus giving the GOP a razer thin majority.
The resolution came with out a vote at yesterday’s State Democratic Party Convention. To actually strip Felder’s party registration would take a Brooklyn Democratic Party Committee hearing and vote. But Seddio, who controls the committee, let Dems supporting the resolution know that they, “would have a better chance at being struck by lightning in their offices” than having Felder thrown out of the party.
“I strongly disagree with the state resolution passed on Simcha Felder. Democrats are a diverse group of people who are supposed to accept differences of opinion and respect those opinions regardless of whether or not we agree with them. This resolution could have been written by Donald Trump against those who he perceived have disagreed with him. As the head of the largest Democratic county in the country, I will not accept this recommendation nor will I act in manner that is detrimental to a member of my party in my county,” said Seddio.
Borough Park Democratic District Leader David Schwartz also called the resolution a sham and a disgrace.
“No vote was taken. Not only my dissent was ignored, but they also ignored the local county chair – the chair of the largest Democratic organization in the country, Frank Seddio. Without listening to him, it’s clear that the resolution is DOA at our committee, and without their support it’s meaningless,” said Schwartz.
“Many members of the Democratic conference defected in the past, but no one was expelled from the party. The double standards are shocking. Expulsion is not the way to reunite the party, and certainly not when the only vote was by the knock of a hammer. If the goal is to attract my dear senator back to the caucus, kicking him out will never achieve that.
Felder himself added this quip on the resolution: “Hard working New Yorkers are struggling to survive. With high taxes, crushing cost of living, and ever-increasing homelessness, it is disheartening to see so many Democratic Party operatives focused on throwing me out.”
The party also passed a resolution calling on the party to fully back, including financially, Felder’s primary opponent, Blake Morris, or anyone who files to challenge the incumbent senator. Seddio went a little softer on this second resolution.
“If other Democrats are not satisfied with positions taken by Simcha Felder, they have a right to support any opponent against him and carry that message to voters in his district, who have the ultimate right to decide who will represent them,” said Seddio.
