When their excitement of watching Barack Obama win the presidency began to fade and the reality of the local political machine — something they wanted to be a part of — had set in, Rachel Lauter and Matt Cowherd founded New Kings Democrats, the Brooklyn-based, grass-roots political organization.

Following the election in 2008, the two had decided it was time to get involved at the community level. “We were like, ‘What do we do next? How do we keep up this movement and excitement?’” recalled Ms. Lauter.

They approached Vito J. Lopez, then the head of the Kings County Democratic Committee. After some back and forth, Mr. Lopez invited them to chat at his political club in Bushwick.

The meeting, recalled Ms. Lauter, was like something “out of a movie.”

“It was dark and dingy and he had guys flanking him, and he was like, ‘Do not do this, do not run for county committee, just volunteer and help me hand out turkeys at Thanksgiving or whatever,’” she said. When the pair pushed back, Ms. Lauter said, he “vaguely threatened” them, mentioning he knew the Bushwick loft they were living in was not legally residential. “He was like, ‘I know where you live.’”