--Hogg knows damned well that DNC Chair Martin laid out sweeping reform package INCLUDING neutrality provision LONG BEFORE Hogg announced LWD program --Closes by asking everyone who interviewed Hogg to also interview him so he can talk about what the DNC is actually *doing.*
📌
Used to think Hogg might be on to something but damn that is not the right way to do it. I want more from the DNC and want it to shift more left than right. But there's a way to do it and a way to shit on everything Join your state and county DNC and be the change you want to be if you haven't!
And if you want hope then say hi to AFL-CIO union members! They're fighting like crazy and you can see it at the local level way better than you could nationally!
The AFL-CIO are great, especially with our state races. They always come out in force for the Democrats.
Joining his local party and rising in the ranks there is what I think he should have done first. Mostly I think he still has a lot to learn before he is a viable candidate for DNC Vice Chair.
Change starts at the local and state level. They are the boots on the ground that cultivate candidates and volunteers. Both of which we sorely need. I just wish more people would volunteer, then they will learn how this all works and what the DNC actually does.
This is what I'm trying to tell my son, he should work with the local Dems, and help them work for change. I know he'd be wonderful with that. But he's already doing volunteer work for a local peer support group as their treasurer.
That's awesome tho! Honestly, any local community activities help no matter how small. I went to a class at the library which is how I met an AFL-CIO member that lead me to participating in my county DNC It's the little things that add up :>
Since this thread is getting some attention, a reminder that if you want to donate DIRECTLY to Democratic candidates WITHOUT up to 75% (!) of it going somewhere besides the actual candidate campaigns, the links at Blue26.org let you do exactly that. Not one dime of what I raise for Dems goes to me.
A few weeks ago I posted a viral thread which broke out the ~$12 million raised/spent by David Hogg's Leaders We Deserve PAC during the 2023-2024 cycle. I just ran the numbers for LWD PAC for the first quarter of the 2025-2026 cycle; they raised just over $1.5M and have spent just under that:
So far this cycle, out of the $1.56 million Leaders We Deserve PAC has raised, they've donated exactly $8,500 to Democratic candidates: $5,000 to Nadarius Clark, an incumbent VA Delegate. $3,500 to Christian Menefee, running for TX-18.
Meanwhile, they've spent: $146,000 on "Consulting" (Communications Consulting, Digital Consulting, Fundraising Consulting, Compliance Consulting, Administrative Consulting & Finance Consulting) $335,000 on "List Acquisition" (ie, paying for YOUR email addresses & phone numbers)
$330,000 on "Digital Ads" (I have no idea if these are ads promoting candidates/issues, which would be fine...or ads promoting LWD PAC, which wouldn't be so fine) $226,000 on "Administrative Expenses from 2024" $60,000 on SMS Texting (ie, sending those irritating donation beg texts)
$55,000 to EveryAction (aka NGP VAN)...I'm pretty sure this is the for the spam emails clogging up our in boxes) $52,000 on RENT Yes, they're spending $13,000 per month on rent to "Jemal's Mickelson LLC" even though they only have 3 paid employees.
Speaking of payroll, Leaders We Deserve appears to be paying both David Hogg and Kevin Lata over $10,000 per month each. That's $120K/year apiece. A 3rd employee, Sarah Koo, is paid around $3,900/month. However, they've also already paid over $50,000 in payroll *taxes*. Huh.
What? Can you not trust anyone? He’s not supposed to get a salary??? wtf 🤬
I mean I don’t want him to get a salary, he isn’t supposed to.
Huh? I’m not attacking him here, I’m simply breaking out where the money the PAC raises is going.
I am understanding that now. I didn’t know that this was going on, unfortunately. I’m learning. Thanks for not blocking me. I just have ties to the MSD- Parkland shooting so I’m sort of defensive.
Most of the rest is standard ($57K to ActBlue in CC processing fees, web hosting, bank fees, etc etc)...but they also have $21,000 in credit card payments for unknown (or at least unlisted) expenses. Oh...and $12,000 for a RETIREMENT PLAN?? Kudos for being so proactive at 25 years old, guys...
So far this cycle, just 0.54% of what Leaders We Deserve LLC has raised has gone to actual Democratic candidates. Obviously it's early in the cycle, so this could increase significantly over the remaining 21 months of the cycle. For instance, last cycle ~30% of what they raised went to candidates.
These stats are eye-opening. So much for helping the Dems who should be taking over for the dinosaurs, eh?
Speaking as apparently the only Dem who has NOT started a PAC...
Don't take my word for it, though; you can dig through their quarterly (and cycle) filings here: www.fec.gov/data/committ...
Again, the payroll taxes number is way off as I explained a few weeks ago. Unless I can see the books and how they are itemizing things, I can't tell you if they're reporting something wrong or over withholding. But something is hinky. 😳
Good work! Thank you!
Wait. I thought that the new Dem mantra is “no more consultants.”
Please tell me somebody's running against Peters for Congress in Illinois? I need to find out who it's going to be or who will step up because HOGG and Sanders have both thrown everything behind whoever this guy is
So far it looks like there's at least 3 Dems running for #IL02: --Robert Peters --Adal Regis --Yumeka Brown I don't know anything about any of them, but here's the other two:
www.regisforcongress.com "As District Rep. for Rep. Kelly, he helped secure millions in federal funding for local governments, small businesses, and nonprofits. As Director of Strategy at a Chicago-based environmental justice nonprofit, he leads clean energy & climate resilience initiatives."
Yumeka Brown: mwrd.org/board-commis...
Thank you so much.
Also it's interesting that the two white dudes are supporting a white dude and not a Black man or a Black woman to fill a Black woman's seat.
Um, Peters is Black AND Jewish. You are certainly not required to support him, but don't blatantly lie.
Well he's trying to take the seat of a Black Woman. I choose a Black Woman everyday and twice on Sunday.
Again, that's your choice, and it's valid. But that's not the point. The point is that you said you were not surprised two white guys would not endorse "a Black man or a Black woman," and I'm telling you that they DID endorse a Black man.
All I have to do is read his Wikipedia page and he is not a D-Democrat. Looks like he's a member of those packs and works for campaigns that fail like Bernie Sanders. So he'll lose.
OK, I hear that brought up all the time, and I've never understood the logic. Why is working for failing campaigns a crime all of a sudden? By that logic, shouldn't anybody who worked on Hillary Clinton or Kamala Harris's campaigns be disqualified?
Robert Peters is a hard no for me just because and I know that sounds wrong but he is supported by Sanders and Hogg.
Kenyatta is fantastic. I watched the hearing live and listened to all sides. The 3 women on the third ballot were disadvantaged because the votes the men got on the 2nd ballot were counted in the 3rd ballot in addition to 3rd ballot votes. They should have had two separate votes instead of combining
I did, too. Agreed. I think they did the right thing.
Yes. That’s why there’s going to be another vote. People could still vote for Kenyatta and Hogg, and it’s a shame that Hogg has wrongly made himself into the victim.
Exactly!
And then when we look at the other angle, there are activists and candidates in red/voter suppression states who are frustrated with the actions and policies from the DNC, DCCC, and the DSCC when they don't expand the base. Sometimes the state party chairs in the past are to blame for all of it.
Democratic Party is a big tent coalition, but our base is black voters because they’re our most loyal voters. That’s what makes them the base of the party.