Unorthodox: DNC Vice Chair Hogg Targets Some Incumbent Democrats for Primary Challenges

David Hogg, elected in February to be one of the Democratic National Committee’s four vice chairs, is taking the unorthodox approach of working to unseat some Democrat incumbent legislators.

Typically, party apparatchiks avoid weighing in on primary races, deferring instead to party primary voters, but Hogg is apparently dissatisfied with the direction of the Democratic Party. 

When DNC Chairman Ken Martin passed around a “neutrality policy” last month asking top party officials to refrain from “call[ing] into question their impartiality and evenhandedness,” Hogg reportedly demurred from signing onto the statement. Instead, Hogg, who turned 25 on Saturday, has planned to challenge older Democrat leaders in safe districts who he views as insufficiently anti-Trump.

His efforts will be a component of a $20 million campaign.

“People say they want change in the Democratic Party; but really, they want change so long as it doesn’t potentially endanger their position of power,” Hogg told The New York Times.

“That’s not actually wanting change. That’s selfishness,” said Hogg, best-known for his zealous advocacy of strict gun control after the February 2018 mass shooting at the South Florida high school he was attending at the time.

For his part, Martin projected a lack of concern about the potential headaches the primary challenges could cause for him.

“David Hogg is a passionate advocate, and we are grateful for his service to the Democratic Party, whether it be in his role as a D.N.C. vice chair or in an outside capacity,” Martin said in a statement. 

Hogg has received support in his efforts from at least one prominent Democrat, Randi Weingarten, the president of the American Federation of Teachers union. 

“The key is that they are trying to create the connection between the long-term values of the party and people who don’t see it. And you have to do things differently to make that connection,” Weingarten explained. 

The teachers union’s support may not be the kind of aid Hogg needs, however. The public sector unions are unpopular among the American people, especially after they supported keeping kids out of school amid the COVID-19 pandemic long after many Americans had gone back to work. A 2023 poll found that just 37% of registered Chicago voters had a favorable view of the Chicago Teachers Union. 

Interestingly, Hogg hasn’t supported the ouster of longtime Democratic leader Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif. Pelosi, 85, fell and broke a hip last year in Belgium and is facing a primary challenge from a 39-year-old former chief of staff for Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y. The former speaker of the House has been a member of Congress since 1987.

Hogg has said that both Rep. Jan Schakowsky, D-Ill., 80, who is also facing a primary challenge from a younger opponent, and Pelosi deserve to be reelected.

The post Unorthodox: DNC Vice Chair Hogg Targets Some Incumbent Democrats for Primary Challenges appeared first on The Daily Signal.