By Kanishka Singh
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -U.S. Democratic National Committee Vice Chair David Hogg, who has voiced support for progressive primary challenges to Democratic incumbents running for re-election in the 2026 midterm elections, said on Wednesday he will not run for his post again.
The party said its members had voted 294-99 to redo the contest that elected Hogg and another Democrat, Malcolm Kenyatta, as vice chairs earlier this year.
In late April, DNC Chair Ken Martin issued a warning to Hogg to back away from plans to help finance progressive primary challenges to Democratic incumbents running for re-election in the 2026 midterm elections.
Martin’s message came with the warning that Hogg could get involved in Democratic primary campaigns but not while holding down a DNC job, as the party weighed possible rule changes to facilitate the firings of DNC officials for such activities.
Hogg had said he would raise money through an outside group, “Leaders We Deserve,” to foster such challenges.
“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 on Wednesday.
“I have decided to not run in this upcoming election so the party can focus on what really matters.”
Hogg, 25, gained national attention after surviving a 2018 mass shooting at his high school in Parkland, Florida. He became a voice for tighter gun control and has evolved into a political activist.
Since then, he has been active in progressive causes and in February won a DNC vice chair spot, as the party intensified efforts to appeal to more progressive voters.
The Democratic Party is engaged in a battle over its future after President Donald Trump won the 2024 U.S. elections while his Republican Party won control of both chambers of Congress.
That left Democrats with little ability in Washington to limit Trump’s policies, and sparked a wave of intra-party recriminations.
(Reporting by Kanishka Singh in Washington; Editing by Lincoln Feast.)
