The Democratic National Committee has set a June date for the vote on removing two party vice chairs, including David Hogg, after he said he was set on challenging incumbent Democrats.
The DNC will vote via electronic ballot between June 9 and June 11 on whether they will conduct new elections for the two vice chair roles. This comes after a DNC committee granted a procedural complaint regarding the initial election, which wasn’t connected to the controversy surrounding Hogg, Politico noted.
If a majority backs the measure, Hogg and Pennsylvania State Rep. Malcolm Kenyatta would lose their positions, and new elections would be held. Votes for a new male vice chair would follow between June 12 and June 14, and for a vice chair of any gender between June 15 and June 17.
Hogg pushed back against re-doing the election during Thursday’s meeting of the DNC’s Rules and Bylaws Committee.
He said it “sends a horrible message to the public about our inability to run elections.”
“If we’re to redo this election, it truly just sends a horrible message that we really do not want out there at this moment,” he added, according to Politico. “That’s why I believe that it should not go forward.”
The vote to possibly oust Hogg comes in the middle of a struggle between the party and the gun-safety advocate. Hogg announced last month that the group he co-founded, Leaders We Deserve, will take aim at “ineffective” Democratic incumbents, spending $20 million.
The chair of the DNC, Ken Martin, put forward a suggestion in response that the bylaws be changed to mandate that all DNC officers be neutral in primary elections. The DNC is set to vote on that measure in August.
However, the struggle regarding the initial election could push out Hogg sooner rather than later. In February, a complaint claimed that the DNC failed to adhere to its own rules regarding gender equity when Kenyatta and Hogg were elected.
Hogg has stated that it’s “impossible to ignore the broader context of my work to reform the party which loomed large over this vote.”
He has also said that the DNC “pledged to remove me, and this vote has provided an avenue to fast-track that effort.”
If the election goes ahead, Kenyatta has called for a virtual candidate forum. In a thread on X, Kenyatta also lambasted the media’s coverage of the fight by viewing Hogg as the “main character.”
“This story is complex and I’m frustrated — but it’s not about @davidhogg111. Even though he clearly wants it to be,” said Kenyatta.
This comes after former Speaker Kevin McCarthy backed Hogg during an appearance on Fox News earlier this month.
“This is exactly what the Democrats do and why they continue to lose,” the former speaker said. “They don’t believe in allowing Democrats to pick who should lead them.”
“He’s right, and he’s young, he’s smart, and he’s going to be around, and this is only going to elevate him; and the whole thing he’s saying is if you’re old and not working to win a majority, you ought to leave!” McCarthy added.
