This post is the second of a series of blogs posts from New Kings Democrats about what happened at the first County Committee meeting of the 2018-2010 cycle.

There was an actual contested election at the last County Committee meeting of the Kings County Democratic Party on September 27. But it went off the rails quickly because the numbers announced did not add up to the result proclaimed. We visited the Party's offices the Monday after the chaotic meeting to try to get to the bottom of what happened. With the physical record of the vote, New Kings Democrats has been able to produce our own estimate of the final vote total, identify the main reason the count at the meeting kept changing, and distinguish the crucial votes that won a majority for the establishment's slate.

This post is part of a series of blogs posts from New Kings Democrats about what happened at the first County Committee meeting of the 2018-2010 cycle.

At the September 27 Kings County Democratic Party (hereafter, “County Committee” or “KCDC”) meeting, there was a contested election for leadership positions of the County Committee. In the room were 541 duly elected members of the County Committee -- by all accounts, more than ever before thanks to hundreds of new KCDC members running for a seat through the #RepYourBlock campaign and the efforts of reform-minded clubs across the borough.

A vote was called for members to support either the slate of candidates put forward by the establishment of the Brooklyn Democratic Party, or new candidates for each of the 13 positions, put forward by a diverse coalition of progressive reform groups. The chair of the meeting, Martin Connor, asked for everyone who supported the Party’s slate to stand, and two tellers started counting votes. 50 people stood. The other 491 people in the room remained seated. Connor announced the Party’s slate had won.

So what happened?

What a week.

Ten years ago, the founders of New Kings Democrats started the club in an effort to increase the transparency and accountability of the Democratic Party in Brooklyn. So much of our work has led to this Thursday, September 27 – the first County Committee meeting of this cycle, and one on which there will be more eyes than ever before.