David Hogg leaving DNC leadership after plan to primary Democrats draws criticism

Activist David Hogg is exiting his role as Democratic National Committee vice chair, he said Wednesday, after months of controversy sparked by his plan to back primary challenges against Democrats he claims are "asleep at the wheel."

Hogg announced he will not run in a planned redo of this year's DNC vice chair elections, shortly after the party voted to void Hogg and Malcolm Kenyatta's victories in the DNC's vice chair elections earlier this year. The revote is not related to Hogg's push to primary elected Democrats, but it came after Hogg drew stiff criticism over the plan.

"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," Hogg said in a statement issued through his political action committee, Leaders We Deserve. "Ultimately, I have decided to not run in this upcoming election so the party can focus on what really matters. I need to do this work with Leaders We Deserve, and it is going to remain my number one mission to build the strongest party possible."

DNC Chair Ken Martin said in a statement, "I commend David for his years of activism, organizing and fighting for his generation, and while I continue to believe he is a powerful voice for this party, I respect his decision to step back from his post as Vice Chair."

Hogg, 25, rose to fame after he survived the deadly 2018 Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting and helped lead the March for Our Lives movement in support of gun control legislation. He was elected to one of the DNC's vice chair positions earlier this year.

Months after taking on the role, Hogg and his group called Leaders We Deserve touted an effort to "start primarying out-of-touch, ineffective House Democrats in solid blue seats (not frontline districts) who are failing to meet the moment as part of a $20 million initiative to elect young leaders and bring about generational change in the Democratic Party."

The move came as Democrats — stung by last year's presidential defeat and hobbled as the minority party in both chambers of Congress — debate how best to push back against President Trump.

But Hogg's announcement was met with outcry from some Democratic heavyweights who believe party leaders should stay neutral in primaries and focus on ousting elected Republicans. Martin, who won his role the same day Hogg was elected as a vice chair, told reporters in April that "no DNC officer should ever attempt to influence the outcome of a primary election — whether on behalf of an incumbent or a challenger."

Matt Bennett, a campaign aide to former President Bill Clinton who now works for the centrist group Third Way, called it "insane behavior from a DNC official."

Hogg has defended the Leaders We Deserve initiative, telling CBS News' Major Garrett in April, "We have to show our base right now that we are doing everything we can to fight back against Donald Trump, and that includes holding ourselves accountable."

Hogg's future as a DNC vice chair has been in question for weeks as concerns about him within the party appeared to grow, and the infighting troubled an array of important people within the party.

The challenge to Hogg's Feb. 1 election as a DNC vice chair, made well before the standoff between him and party officials began in April, moved forward in recent weeks as pushback and controversy enveloped the young leader just months into his tenure with the national party.

The challenge from this winter, which eventually led to Wednesday's move for new elections for Hogg and fellow vice chair Kenyatta's party offices, was brought by Kalyn Free of Oklahoma, who argued she lost the vice chair race because the party didn't follow the proper rules. The complaint claimed that "the decision to ignore the Charter, Bylaws and upend the stated Election Rules in conducting the election for the second and third Vice Chair positions gave the two male candidates an unfair and insurmountable advantage over the women candidates."

While the election challenge was never about Hogg's controversies, the two became tied together publicly at a difficult time for the party. Reeling from losses in the 2024 presidential election and nationwide branding issues, Democrats were determined to start rebuilding. But the tensions between Hogg and party leaders loomed over that work publicly, and were used by some within the GOP to criticize the Democratic Party as the drama played out.

Now, Democrats are expected to try and move past this period of intraparty fighting that has troubled them during the first year of President Trump's second term in office. Had Hogg tried to remain vice chair, he would have faced Kenyatta in a race for one vice chair role, with the loser then being eligible to run against several challengers for another vice chair slot.

"I look forward to getting back to work electing Democrats up and down the ballot," Kenyatta said in a statement about Wednesday's news. "I wish David the best."