Politics on the Hudson

The resignation of Dave Pollak as co-chair of the New York State Democratic Committee — which was announced late Friday —  has a somewhat unwelcome consequence for Westchester Democratic Chairman Reginald LaFayette.

“Now, I guess, I am forced into going to Denver,” said LaFayette, who is also chairman of the state party’s Executive Committee.

As Liz Benjamin of the Daily Politics reported this morning, Democratic Party rules apparently require the top male and female office holders to have automatic superdelegate status. So, with Pollak no longer a top party official, LaFayette, as leader of the executive committee, would join party Chair June O’Neill as a superdelegate to the Democratic National Convention in Denver this summer. Both are supporters of Hillary Clinton.

Yet, this is not necessarily good news for the normally jovial LaFayette. In prior conversations he has expressed something just short of dread at the prospect of schlepping to Denver.

“These things don’t excite me,” LaFayette said today. “It just opens up the chance for people to do what people in the hip-hop world call ‘hate on you’ more.”

Another problem with the convention is timing, since it takes place at a time when LaFayette — in his role as Westchester Elections Commissioner —is gearing up for the September primaries and often stuck in court dealing with petition challenges.