WASHINGTON — David Hogg, the young progressive activist and 2018 Parkland school shooting survivor who has been in the spotlight over a controversial effort to oust some Democratic incumbents in the 2026 midterm elections, announced he will not seek to keep his leadership role with the Democratic National Committee.
The announcement followed a decision by the DNC this week to redo the elections for two of its vice chair positions, including the one held by Hogg, over a procedural issue and is not directly related to the backlash he received from some in the party over his primary plan
Hogg took to X on Wednesday evening to share his decision to step out of the race to stay on as a vice chair, writing he wanted the party to “focus on what really matters.” He said he would shift all attention to his political action committee – which is set to carry out his primary challenge plan – “Leaders We Deserve.”
“I came into this role to play a positive role in creating the change our party needs,” Hogg wrote as part of a long thread of messages. “It is clear that there is a fundamental disagreement about the role of a Vice Chair — and it's okay to have disagreements. What isn’t okay is allowing this to remain our focus when there is so much more we need to be focused on.”
The 25-year-old said he has “nothing but admiration and respect” for his fellow DNC officers but also blasted Democratic leaders for being “asleep at the wheel” and for what he called a “lack of vision.”
He also criticized “Democrats dying in office that have helped to hand Republicans an expanded majority.” Three Democratic lawmakers have died while serving in the House this year, according to the House Press Gallery.
Hogg, who entered the national spotlight after surviving the 2018 Parkland school shooting, received significant attention over the last few weeks for his plan to put millions of dollars into an effort via his political action committee to oust particular sitting Democratic lawmakers he views as too old or ineffective in primaries.
The plan led newly elected DNC Chair Ken Martin to vocally push back, saying DNC officials should not be weighing in on primary contests between two Democratic candidates. Martin added at the time that Hogg is free to pursue such an effort should he wish, just not as an official DNC officer, as it would break from the tradition of the national Democratic party staying out of its primary contests.
The decision, however, to hold fresh votes for the vice chair seats won by Hogg and Pennsylvania state lawmaker Malcolm Kenyatta during the party’s officer elections on Feb. 1, did not stem from the recent controversy.
It followed a complaint filed from one of the unsuccessful candidates for the position, Kalyn Free, who argued that the DNC violated its charter, bylaws and election rules in the February contest in a way that led to “three women of color being shut out of challenging a man on the third ballot for the last vice chair position.”
Throughout the saga, Kenyatta has pushed back on any insinuation that the decision from the committee had anything to do with the controversial primary election effort. At the same time, he was not shy about criticizing Hogg himself.
“This story is complex and I’m frustrated — but it’s not about @davidhogg111 ,” Kenyatta wrote on X last month. “Even though he clearly wants it to be.”
Following Hogg’s announcement this week, Kenyatta wished him the best on X.
It all comes as the Democratic party has been searching for a unified message in the wake of former President Joe Biden's exit from the 2024 presidential race, in large part due to concerns about his age, and the election losses that followed.