David Hogg, a Democratic National Committee vice chair, waded back into the contentious world of primary elections Tuesday, despite recent drama over his break with other party leaders on the subject.
A 25-year-old Parkland school shooting survivor, Hogg’s progressive group, Leaders We Deserve, waded into the special election to replace the late Virginia Rep. Gerry Connolly, endorsing state Del. Irene Shin. The Washington Post first reported the endorsement, which is only his second of the cycle.
The move comes after Hogg announced a $20-million effort to elect younger lawmakers and launch primary challenges for safe House Democratic seats, putting him at odds with his DNC colleagues. Party leadership has traditionally stayed out of primary races, opting to instead focus on general elections and coalition building.
Hogg did not respond to a request for comment from NOTUS.
The Leaders We Deserve site includes a section on “Primarying Democrats” that reads: “This party is worth fighting for, and not just for the sake of opposing Trump. What that looks like right now is electing younger leaders who have the energy, passion, and vision to meet this moment with the urgency our country deserves.”
“Through all of this, some incumbents will rise to the challenge and emerge stronger. Others will demonstrate why they should be replaced. Either way, we all win,” the site reads.
Hogg told The Hill in an April interview that “somebody said to me, ‘Oh, you’re here to replace the old with new.’ I would say we’re here to replace the ineffective with the new and effective.”
The DNC was displeased by the effort: A proposal introduced shortly after the announcement in April would require national Democratic officials to pledge neutrality in all primaries. While Hogg offered a compromise — an “internal firewall” where Hogg could retain his vice chair job but be unable to access DNC information in races where he was supporting challengers — it was rebuffed by the DNC’s chair, Ken Martin, and called “nonsense” by another vice chair.
Independently of that conflict, a DNC panel recommended in May that a new election be held for Hogg’s role (and another vice chair, Malcolm Kenyatta). While the recommendation stemmed from an unrelated procedural complaint, it nonetheless opened the door for aggravated DNC members to get rid of Hogg. A vote for committee members on whether to redo the election is being held this week.
In many ways, the endorsement could not come at a worse time for Hogg.
Tensions within the DNC already reached a boiling point on Sunday after a leaked DNC call first reported by Politico showed Martin pleading with Hogg to turn down the temperature.
“I don’t think you intended this, but you essentially destroyed any chance I have to show the leadership that I need to. So it’s really frustrating,” Martin said. He also expressed skepticism about his future in the role, saying that, “For the first time in my 100 days on this job … the other night I said to myself for the first time, I don’t know if I wanna do this anymore.”
In response, Martin said on Sunday that he is “not going anywhere.”
After the leak, insiders told NOTUS that the party’s top brass had made up their minds: “Every other leader is on the same side. It really is everybody versus David Hogg,” a Democratic strategist said.
Many DNC leaders even accused Hogg of being the source of the leak.
“Breaking news: A human being had a frustrating day at work. That’s all Ken expressed on that call — I was there” Kenyatta said. “For weeks I’ve pointed out David’s casual relationship with the truth. He proves he has no relationship with integrity if he’s willing to record and leak private conversations.”
Hogg quickly denied his involvement in a post on X.
—
Nuha Dolby is a NOTUS reporter and an Allbritton Journalism Institute fellow.