Bronx Democrats could be forgiven for seeing double after leaving the county party meeting September 28 at the Utopian Theater. Two meetings were held, back to back, with two votes electing two different party bosses.

The raucous evening was punctuated by boisterous cheers, angry yelling, a scuffle on stage and, in the end, a wealth of confusion as to who was in control of the Bronx Democratic party.

For months, a rebel faction of Bronx elected officials have labored to gain control of the party from its current leader, Assembly Member José Rivera, charging that he has turned the party into a family business. The rebels call themselves the Rainbow Faction—or Rainbow Coalition, or Rainbow Rebellion—for their multi-ethnic membership of legislators, district leaders and supporters.

For his part, Rivera has always said he accepted the dissent as a natural part of his leadership and invited any who wished to oust him to try their hand.

With his video camera in tow, Rivera and his entourage roamed the chaotic theater that night, posing for pre-emptive victory photos and hugging supporters. Hundreds of people waved signs reading “José Rivera Se Queda” (José Rivera stays) and sang his name like a soccer chant.

Asked if he was confident about the upcoming vote, Rivera offered only excitement that so many people had come for the meeting.

“I don’t control the podium,” he said, a reference to Assembly Member Carl Heastie, the rebel leader, who, as chairman of the Bronx Democratic Party Committee, normally controls the meetings. Rivera is the head of the executive committee, outranking Heastie—for now.

But the night was far from normal, as Rivera’s supporters wrested control of the meeting from Heastie and his Rainbow Rebellion.

Pandemonium reigned in the Utopia’s lobby, as hundreds of party members attempted to sign in and record their vote. Rebel Assembly Members Michael Benedetto and Jeffrey Dinowitz, both sweating heavily, attempted to assist as many as they could.

“They’re padding the house with non-members,” Dinowitz charged of the Rivera faction. “Noise and posters don’t count. Only registered party members can vote.”

But Council Member Oliver Koppel, a Rivera supporter, said they were simply trying to fill hundreds of committee member vacancies from districts whose candidates did not get to vote.

Meanwhile, City Council Member Maria Baez, a Rivera loyalist, took the podium and announced that the meeting was underway. Together with Council Member Larry Seabrook and Assembly Member Carmen Arroyo, they called for a voice vote to re-elect Rivera as chair of the executive committee. Heastie and fellow rebel Assembly Member Aurelia Greene watched silently from the stage. At one point, Heastie made a slashing motion across his throat to someone off stage.

The thunderous mix of yeas and nays made it difficult to tell which way the vote went. Either way, Seabrook declared Rivera the leader.

“They’re not members,” Dinowitz fumed from the middle of the theater, watching as Rivera’s supporters waved signs and cheered. “They’re thugs.”

Suddenly, a scuffle broke out on stage. Several people from the audience jumped onstage as someone with a megaphone shouted, “Where are you going with those votes?” Later, rebel Assembly Member Michael Benjamin claimed Dinowitz was roughed up during the fracas.

“They want to have a party,” Rivera shouted from the stage, giving the audience a taste of his old union organizing days. “We can have a party!” 

Soon after, Rivera adjourned the meeting, but not before adding one last note of defiance to those seeking to oust him.

“I am old, but I am not fading away,” he declared.

Rivera and his supporters filed out of the theater, while the rebel legislators moved to keep their supporters in their seats. Heastie finally stepped to the front of the stage, and, without a microphone, formally began his own meeting. A court reporter sat behind him, recording the minutes, which rebels claimed would aid their cause when the leadership battle transfers to the courts.

Benjamin believes the court is generally hesitant to get involved in party disputes and will normally to defer to those who adhere to the rules.

“You saw how that meeting was conducted,” Benjamin said of the Rivera-controlled meeting. “And they want to hold the leadership!”

After some brief parliamentary maneuvering, the rebel faction, with 14 of the Bronx’s 24 district leaders on their side, voted Heastie in as the new chair of the executive committee.

Greene read off the names of each district leader and elected official to record the vote, pausing without irony as she read the names of those who had just left.

“José Rivera,” she called out to a few chuckles in the crowd. “Absent.”