Biography
David Hogg was a student at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School at the time of the shooting there in February 2018. He became one of the most visible of the students who organized afterwards, and has since moved into party politics and independent-expenditure campaigning.
2018
Hogg was named in the 2018 TIME 100 in a joint entry on the Parkland students written by Barack Obama, alongside Cameron Kasky, Jaclyn Corin, Emma González and Alex Wind. Obama credited the group with persuading some statehouses and retailers to change.
The organization that came out of the mobilization, the March For Our Lives Foundation, received federal tax exemption in August 2018 and has since run on revenue between roughly 2.5 million a year, spending more than it took in across the tax years 2020 to 2023.
Democratic National Committee, February to June 2025
Hogg was elected a vice chair of the DNC in February 2025. In June the committee called a redo of that election, following a procedural challenge — the DNC having determined it did not follow its own internal rules — which also affected the post held by Pennsylvania state Rep. Malcolm Kenyatta.
Running alongside that, and by the reporting’s own account not the basis of the challenge, was a public dispute with DNC chair Ken Martin over Hogg’s support for primary challenges to sitting Democratic incumbents.
On 11 June 2025 Hogg announced he would not stand in the new election. His statement located the disagreement precisely: “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… I need to do this work with Leaders We Deserve.” Martin said he respected the decision.
Leaders We Deserve
Leaders We Deserve is registered with the Federal Election Commission as an independent-expenditure-only committee — a super PAC — active in the 2026 cycle. That legal form is the substantive point: the vehicle Hogg chose for backing primary challengers is one that spends independently and takes unlimited contributions, and it is what he left a party office to run.
Digital Political Impact
- One of the small group whose organizing after a school shooting produced a national mobilization within weeks; among them, the one who was elected to a national party office
- In 2025, Hogg left the DNC vice-chair post rather than continue backing primary challenges to sitting Democratic incumbents
- Runs a super PAC rather than an advocacy organization, which is a different instrument with different disclosure and coordination rules
What Is Not Established Here
Removed in the citation audit: his birth year; a Twitter follower count; and the account of his role in founding Never Again MSD and organizing the March for Our Lives rally, which the TIME entry does not describe. Leaders We Deserve’s finances are not stated: the FEC’s totals endpoint returned no data for the committee at the time of retrieval, and no figure is asserted without one.
Sources
- 01.
Obama, B. (2018). Parkland Students — The 100 Most Influential People of 2018. The TIME 100 entry, written by Barack Obama, naming David Hogg alongside Cameron Kasky, Jaclyn Corin, Emma González and Alex Wind, and crediting them with persuading some statehouses and retailers to change.
- 02.
Kamisar, B. (2025). David Hogg won't run for DNC post again after party orders redo of vice chair elections. Report of 11 June 2025. Source for the DNC calling a redo of the February 2025 election that had made Hogg a vice chair, following a procedural challenge; for the second affected post being held by Pennsylvania state Rep. Malcolm Kenyatta; for Hogg's decision not to stand in the new election; for the dispute with DNC chair Ken Martin over Hogg's support for primary challenges to Democratic incumbents, which the report notes was not the basis of the procedural challenge; for Hogg's quoted statement ('It is clear that there is a fundamental disagreement about the role of a Vice Chair... I need to do this work with Leaders We Deserve'); and for Martin's response.
- 03.
Federal Election Commission. Leaders We Deserve — FEC committee record (C00897421). Retrieved through the OpenFEC API on 2026-09-01. Leaders We Deserve is registered as an independent-expenditure-only committee — a super PAC — with committee ID C00897421, active in the 2026 cycle. The registration establishes the organization's legal form, which is the relevant fact: it is a super PAC, not a membership organization or a party committee.
- 04.
Internal Revenue Service, via ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer. March For Our Lives Foundation — IRS Form 990 filings (EIN 83-0885411). 501(c)(3) in Washington, DC, IRS ruling date August 2018. Revenue between $1.2 million and $2.5 million in tax years 2020-2023, with expenses exceeding revenue in each.