David Hogg challenges Democrats' 'ineffective' old guard

Anti-gun campaigner David Hogg is making waves with his plan to push primary challenges to the Democratic party's incumbents in Congress. After rising to prominence for his activism as a survivor of the 2018 mass shooting at his high school in Parkland, Florida, he is now a vice chair on the Democratic National Committee, and he is making other party leaders anxious.

Democratic critics say Hogg's plan to invest $20 million from his Leaders We Deserve PAC to replace incumbents is "misguided at a time when the party is up against President Donald Trump," said The Washington Post. But Hogg said his goal is to help that opposition by replacing "ineffective" Democrats. Those who are nervous about his proposal "should ask yourself, if you're a member of Congress, why and how you can change?" he said.

Democratic Party Chair Ken Martin, though, is working to force Hogg to "choose between his official role and his disrupter goals." And Hogg's efforts have sparked a backlash from other Democratic elders. The primary strategy is the "most insane thing I've heard," said James Carville to The Hill.

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'Change the face of the party'

Democrats know that "voters are hungry for younger leadership with more verve," said Lauren Egan at The Bulwark. The party's leaders are trying to also figure out how to "welcome fresh faces without forcing out older ones." Hogg has "pissed off" old guard party members, but he also "frustrated some progressives" after declaring he would not go after former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), who already has a primary challenger. It is clear that change is needed. "We have to change the face of the party," said Adam Green, cofounder of the Progressive Change Campaign Committee, to the Bulwark.

Hogg's boldness is "right on time" even if it angers party elders, said Michael Ceraso at The Hill. But the DNC members who elevated him to vice chair of the party "weren't asking him to blow up the institution." Instead, they were "asking him to fix it." Instead of striking out on his own with proposals that attract press attention, Hogg would do well to follow the example of Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) who is "turning her progressivism into bridge-building and working with others" while still landing punches against Republicans. She is "not blowing things up in the name of shock and awe" and "neither should Hogg."

Parties exist to "simply get members of their party elected," said Jonah Goldberg at The Dispatch. If Hogg wants to back primary challenges, "that's fine." But doing it while in party leadership "is indefensible."

'Voters should decide'

Martin, the DNC chair, is calling for party officials' neutrality in primaries to be "codified in the party's official rules and bylaws," said CNN. "Voters should decide who our primary nominees are, not DNC leadership," Martin said to reporters. The changed rules "in effect will force me out of the organization," Hogg said.

He will not go quietly, Newsweek said. Democrats spent $2 billion on the 2024 presidential election and "still lost an election to a convicted felon who literally attempted to overthrow our government," Hogg said on X. That should be "cause for serious reflection" and big changes in the Democratic Party.