Why some centrist Dems fear David Hogg could ‘do more harm than good.’

David Hogg became the latest foil for Republicans when the young activist with a flair for far-left rhetoric was elected vice chair of the Democratic National Committee.

The fallout is quickly becoming a headache for Democrats, too.

Long a backwater in party politics, the vice chair — an office that typically comes with little public attention and even less power — has become the focus of a barrage of stinging headlines from the right in recent days over Hogg’s previous calls for abolishing ICE and defunding police.

Inside the Democratic Party, Hogg’s election — and the resulting coverage — has been accompanied by frustration among centrists that a 24-year-old March for our Lives co-founder with a million followers could hurt the party’s brand, especially in swing districts. They vented that his ascension is representative of Democrats’ failure to grapple with some voters’ frustration that the party is overly concerned with diversity and appeals to the far left.

“The most worrying thing is if he carries into this new job a belief that saying what he was saying, but louder, is the way to prevail in red states,” said Matt Bennett, co-founder of the center-left group Third Way. “Because it isn’t … If he believes that it is, that’s going to be a real problem for our candidates in those places.”

Bennett added, “He came up as an activist, but now he is a party leader, and that’s a very, very different role.”

Another Democratic strategist, granted anonymity to speak candidly, complained that Hogg can now “go on TV as a vice chair for the DNC, speak on behalf of the Democratic Party, in a way that can do more harm than good.”

Hogg, who first rose to prominence after becoming a survivor of the 2018 school shooting at Parkland High School in Florida, pitched himself to DNC members as a solution to Democrats’ growing youth problem, calling for the party to make concrete efforts to include young people in party business — for example, by covering the costs of travel to meetings for people who make less than $100,000, a barrier for some hoping to participate. He argued in DNC candidate forums that Democrats shouldn’t be “afraid to talk about the hard-to-talk-about issues.”

“Our party failed to connect with voters this year because they felt like we ignored them. We need to listen again and have the tough conversations with people from across the political spectrum — and I’m committed to doing that work,” Hogg said in a statement to POLITICO.

During his DNC campaign, Hogg didn’t pitch himself as a hardcore ideologue. Rather, he urged the party to “become better storytellers” about what Democrats do because the “American people do not think we care about them” and they “don’t think we deliver for them.”

“I found him to be focused and pragmatic because he understands that’s the best pathway for success,” said John Della Volpe, director of Harvard University’s youth poll, who has worked with Hogg. “Over the time I’ve known him, he’s grown into a leader who understands that the goal is to win.”

The message resonated in the DNC elections over the weekend. Hogg carried an impressive list of endorsements, including from Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten and Rep. Maxwell Frost (D-Fla.). Artie Blanco, a union organizer and longtime DNC member from Nevada, and Pennsylvania state Rep. Malcolm Kenyatta were also elected to national vice chair positions over the weekend.

“Pumped for David, who is IN THE ARENA and helping DEMS BE COOL AGAIN,” Jack Schlossberg, a Democratic influencer and the grandson of President John F. Kennedy, wrote on X.

But that’s not how Hogg’s election played in the conservative press. “New DNC vice chair sets social media ablaze after ‘radical’ posts exposed: ‘Learned absolutely nothing,’” blared Fox News. Newsweek reported, “New DNC Vice Chair Called to Abolish ICE,” while the National Review offered, “It’s Time to Go Hogg-Wild at the Democratic National Committee!”

In his statement to POLITICO, Hogg said of his reception from conservative media, in part, “I’m used to it, but I’ve never let that right-wing propaganda stop me from showing up, uplifting young voices, and working to unify all corners of our party.”

In some ways, the discussion surrounding Hogg infused into the DNC elections an ideological debate that had been all but absent in the race for chair, which Ken Martin of Minnesota won after a campaign largely focused on the nuts and bolts of running elections. It was a departure from long standing divisions in the party between centrists and the left flank — a welcome development for many party operatives scrambling after their November losses to put up a unified front against President Donald Trump.

But Hogg’s elevation was a reminder of how tense some of those intraparty rifts remain. Following the election, Liam Kerr, co-founder of a PAC supporting centrist Democrats, wrote on X that Hogg was a “symptom” of many Democratic problems, including being a “white guy who panders” and a Democrat who “shits on moderates who won.”

Of particular frustration was Hogg’s post on X after Rep. Mary Peltola (D-Alaska) lost re-election in November. “Good riddance,” Hogg posted on Nov. 16. “Turns out being weak on gun control doesn’t save you. Peltola was awful on gun control.”

“Whose side are you on?” said Lauren Harper Pope, who co-founded Welcome PAC with Kerr. “Ok, you can have your perspective on guns, but you’re trying to make the tent smaller.”

Shasti Conrad, the chair of the Washington State Democrats who challenged Hogg for one of the vice chair roles, said of Hogg, “I believe that for the party to rebuild itself effectively, we needed leaders who not only brought passion and energy but also have a strong understanding of how the party apparatus works.”

Hogg was evidently sufficiently familiar with the party apparatus to win. And some Democrats — even those critical of his past comments — are leaving open the possibility that he might moderate them now that he holds a position in the party.

“He can either be the caricature of who he is on TV and online, or he can go deeper,” said a DNC member, granted anonymity to discuss the issue candidly. “We don’t know yet what to expect from him.”

Brakkton Booker contributed to this report.

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