Jesse Scheckner
David Hogg, the gun control activist who rose to national prominence after surviving the 2018 massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, could lose his Democratic National Committee (DNC) leadership role due to a procedural dispute.
A DNC panel recommended a new election for the Vice Chair post Hogg now holds, potentially ousting him amid internal party tensions over his insurgent political tactics.
Hogg, a 25-year-old who became a leading voice in the student-led March for Our Lives movement after 17 people were killed in the Parkland school shooting, has since emerged as a prominent Democratic activist.
After he won a seat as one of four DNC Vice Chairs in early February, he pledged to bring fresh energy to what he called “asleep at the wheel” Democratic leadership.
But Hogg’s mid-April announcement that he would back a $20 million campaign to unseat Democratic incumbents in safe blue districts triggered a backlash from party leaders, including DNC Chair Ken Martin, who called on Hogg to either sign a neutrality pledge or step down.
On Monday, the DNC’s credentials committee voted Monday to void Hogg’s election. The vote was based on a procedural complaint, not Hogg’s political push, but it nevertheless opened a path for the party to remove him.
The panel voted 13-2 to back a resolution calling for a new election for Hogg and fellow Vice Chair Malcolm Kenyatta. That resolution must now go before the full DNC membership for approval.
Hogg said in a statement that while the decision was made on procedural grounds, “it is impossible to ignore the broader context of my work to reform the party, which loomed large over this vote.”
“The DNC has pledged to remove me,” he said, “and this vote has provided an avenue to fast-track that effort.”
The complaint that spurred the review came from Oklahoma DNC member Kalyn Free, who said the February Vice Chair election violated internal rules and disadvantaged female candidates.
“Today, the credentials committee of the DNC confirmed that correcting mistakes in process, and protecting democracy is more important than saving face,” she said in a statement.
Kenyatta, a 34-year-old state Representative from Philadelphia, expressed frustration in a series of X posts. He said he disagreed with the ruling and took exception with media focus on Hogg as “the main character” in an “easy story” about the DNC pushing back against efforts to overhaul the party.
The problem with that narrative, he said, is that Free’s challenge “was brought well before” Hogg announced the $20 million effort through his Leaders We Deserve initiative.
“The credentials committee believed, as they stated, that they are remedying a procedural flaw. But doing so the way they did, is a slap in the face,” he said. “However, any story about this, that neatly places this into a narrative about David Hogg is wrong. … This story is complex and I’m frustrated — but it’s not about (Hogg). Even though he clearly wants it to be.”
The DNC could hold a virtual vote on the matter ahead of its August meeting, where the final decision may ultimately be made.
