Tipsheet

David Hogg Is Now in Serious Trouble at the DNC

David Hogg had some grand plans to reshape the party: he wanted to reconnect with the white dudes who just wanted to party and get laid. He also planned a massive shooting inside the ship exercise in which he’d spend millions to oust Democrats he felt were not with the program. It was a herculean effort. It made waves, and it did not sit well with the Democratic National Committee, of which Hogg serves as vice chair. Now, that body has put his ouster on the fast track (via NY Post):

The Democratic National Committee’s credentials panel voted Monday to void activist David Hogg’s election to vice chair of the party. 

Hogg, a survivor of the 2018 mass shooting at Marjorie Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., was elected vice chair in February but has drawn criticism from some Democrats over his plans to spend $20 million to take down long-serving Democratic House lawmakers in primaries. 

“[It’s] impossible to ignore the broader context of my work to reform the party which loomed large over this vote,” Hogg said in a statement after the vote, according to Politico.  

“The DNC has pledged to remove me, and this vote has provided an avenue to fast-track that effort,” he added. 

The committee, which found procedural violations occurred in the February election, also voted to oust Pennsylvania state Rep. Malcolm Kenyatta as DNC vice chair.   

Hogg and Kenyatta, however, will remain at their posts until the full DNC votes on whether to approve their removals later this year.  

But this has nothing to do with politics, as Christine Pelosi, daughter of Nancy Pelosi and member of the credentials committee, noted on social media: 

First, I want to say clearly and explicitly that this decision has nothing to do with the service of any DNC officer, especially David Hogg or Malcolm Kenyatta. This is about a violation of parliamentary procedure that was raised in a challenge filed back in February by another candidate for Vice Chair. 

Here is the backstory: The DNC held elections for our Officers on Feb 1. The last offices to be elected were for three at-large Vice Chairs. The DNC has gender balance provisions (as does the RNC). 

We elected Artie Blanco with a clear majority. Then we had to elect a male Vice Chair and a Vice Chair of any gender. The DNC Members voted for those last two spots on a combined ballot. Malcolm Kenyatta and David Hogg both exceeded the majority threshold, and so they were elected. 

After the election, one of the Vice Chair candidates, Kalyn Free, raised a challenge that combining those last two ballots violated the rules of procedure for the vote. That’s what we, the DNC Credentials Committee met to discuss tonight.  

We dug into the details and found both sides of the arguments compelling. I proposed that despite the alleged errors, that we vote to uphold the elections, with a recommendation that in the future we either vote one position at a time or vote for all three positions at once. That vote was 9-9, so more debate was needed to reach consensus. Ultimately, the Credentials Committee voted on a resolution that recommends that the DNC complete the Vice Chair election, and administer new ballots for the final two Vice Chair positions. Only five candidates qualified to run on the third Vice Chair ballot on February 1—Malcolm Kenyatta, David Hogg, Jeanna Repass, Kalyn Free, and Shasti Conrad—will be eligible to run now.   

Next step: the full DNC membership takes a vote on our Credentials Committee report.  

Meanwhile, Malcolm Kenyatta and David Hogg continue to serve as DNC Vice Chairs. And I think I speak for all of us on the Committee when I say I hope both of these talented individuals put their names on the ballot again. 

We’ll move fast to get this resolved. I have total faith in our DNC members to review this issue and vote their conscience. As always, connect with me with any comments or questions. I’ll respond as quickly as I can, but not tonight, because I am 100% focused on the fate of Dub Nation. Go Warriors! 

Kenyatta also responded in a lengthy thread on Twitter:

 What a mess. Is the DNC on the verge of total civil war?