Parkland shooting survivor and gun-control activist David Hogg becomes DNC vice chair

A survivor of the 2018 Parkland high school shooting has become one of the new vice chairs of the Democratic National Committee.Former student-turned-gun-control activist David Hogg, 24, was among three people elected to the position Saturday during a meeting in National Harbor, Md., just outside of Washington, DC, to elect the DNC’s next suite of leaders.“I’m deeply grateful to the members for their trust and belief in me and I don’t take it lightly,” Hogg wrote on X after clinching the role.Hogg has nudged Democrats to become less judgmental and more forceful in their messaging as the party dithers over what direction to take under the second Trump administration.“It’s time we stop surrendering, go on offense, and take the fight to Donald Trump,” he added on X.“We need to show [the public] who we are again, to rid our party of its judgmental attitudes, and do the work to win back every group we lost this year.”Hogg notched around 215 votes, and Pennsylvania state Rep.

Malcolm Kenyatta scored 298 votes, above the 205 threshold.Artie Blanco from Nevada nabbed the third vice chair role during the third round of voting.Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party Chair Ken Martin landed the coveted position of DNC chairman, succeeding Jaime Harrison.Hogg was thrust into the national spotlight after a gunman stormed Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., in February 2018 and slaughtered 17 people while injuring 17 others.The deadly mass shooting sparked national outcry over killer Nikolas Cruz’s previous violent threats and how he got access to the AR-15 he used for the slaughter, while Hogg quickly emerged as one of the leading activists for gun control, playing a key role in the March for Our Lives demonstration.Hogg later graduated from Harvard University and moved to DC.“After Parkland, our country was in a similar moment — where we had a Republican trifecta in Washington,” he said during the DNC election over the week...