Democratic National Committee (DNC) Vice Chair David Hogg’s group, Leaders We Deserve, launched a $20 million initiative on Monday aimed at launching primary challenges House Democrats in safe seats in the hopes of electing a new generation of leaders.
“We’re not only focused on targeting Democratic incumbents when necessary,” Hogg told The Hill in a Wednesday interview. “We are here to elect young people who are running in open seats. We’re here to elect young people that are running open, competitive seats as well, and support them when they align with our values.”
Hogg noted that his group is not blindly seeking to elect young Democrats, but rather seeking to elect young Democrats “who are ready to meet the moment.”
“Earlier somebody said to me, ‘Oh you’re here to replace the old with new.' I would say we’re here to replace the ineffective with the new and effective,” he said.
Leaders We Deserve endorses candidates for state House seats who are 30 years old and younger, and candidates who are 35 years old and younger for federal races. The group spent $12 million in the 2024 general election cycle.
Hogg argued that the status quo in leadership in the U.S. has given way to issues like the threat of school shootings, climate change, the lack of affordable housing, and student debt, which he said have all had a particular impact on young people.
“That is a democratic society that has enabled that to happen,” he said. “What we have to do in our party is show how we are standing up against special interests to fight for everyday people and deliver for Americans across the country.”
While the effort is targeting a number of incumbent House Democrats, Hogg was quick to emphasize that it is not targeting frontline House Democrats, or Democrats in competitive districts.
“There are members that I certainly do not agree with by any means but we have to make sure we can keep to our majority in Congress,” he said.
And Hogg said the group is not planning to blindly target safe blue districts across the board either.
“The reality is you should not be worried about this if you are a member of Congress if you are effective like Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.), for example, or Nancy Pelosi. What we are looking at is places where the elected official has not done a great job being effective against Trump.”
The effort comes as Democratic incumbents have seen a number of challenges from young progressives, including former Capitol Hill staffer Jake Rakov, who is challenging his former boss Rep. Brad Sherman (D-Calif.). Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) is facing a primary challenge from tech billionaire Saikat Chakrabarti, while Schakowsky is facing a challenge from progressive media figure Kat Abughazaleh.
In a statement, the head of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee said the party was united heading into the midterms.
“Democrats are united in taking back the majority in the House and that's the top focus of the DCCC,” said chair Suzan DelBene. “What I would tell anyone who wants to be helpful or to donate is to focus on those races where we can take back the majority. We just released our map of Districts in Play, the races where we have opportunities to win all across the country. This is how we win and make sure there is a check on this administration.”
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