David Hogg, a March For Our Lives activist and vice chair of the Democratic National Committee, announced a plan to primary lackluster Democrats in the House of Representatives that drew backlash from party elites.

While Democrats have traditionally respected seniority and incumbency in internal party conflicts, Hogg, a party official, announced a $20 million effort to primary sitting members of the House. Leaders We Deserve, a political organization and action committee that Hogg serves as president of, is set to fund the effort, which is aimed at electing younger Democrats. While the announcement that the group would back primary challengers received significant attention, Hogg told Salon that they would also be supporting younger candidates in competitive seats. The Democratic National Committee chair, Ken Martin, has not endorsed the idea.

In a conversation with Salon, Hogg said that he hoped the threat of a primary challenge would encourage Democrats to put up a more vigorous opposition to Trump and the Republicans or convince some representatives to retire ahead of the 2026 elections. Hogg lauded Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., who recently made a trip to El Salvador to meet with a wrongly renditioned immigrant, pointing to Van Hollen as the sort of representative he was hoping to support.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

I'm interested in talking about the support you've announced for primaries against Democratic candidates, and I'd like to start with just a simple question of whether or not you have any names on your list.

Right now we're looking at all the districts around the country where a lot of our members have failed to meet the moment, and part of what we hope with this is that it won't be necessary. We hope that a lot of these members, if there's a member who hears about this program and is made anxious by it: A, they should ask why, and why that is because, if you're effective, you don't have anything to worry about this; and B, if you aren't able to meet this moment, and that's why you're anxious, you should think about not seeking re-election and supporting the next generation, passing down your knowledge and mentoring them.

So that's why there isn't that announcement. We don't want to have to do this right now, but we need to let people know that this is a real possibility and we are not afraid to do it. 

There's one thing that I would like to say, too, which is not getting out there nearly enough: We're not just focused on challenging incumbent Democrats that we feel like are failing to meet the moment in the U.S. House — we are also focused on supporting younger Democrats who are running in competitive races that could help us gain a majority, because we obviously want to take on big Republicans head-on as well.

If there is somebody who aligns with our values, who is in a frontline district, that is not challenging an incumbent, we're going to support that person because we really want to make sure young people come into the majority, obviously, as they're running.

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You mentioned candidates supporting your values or “our values.” I'd be interested in hearing about whether or not there's an ideological component to this, or if there's like a litmus test in terms of an issue or issues you're thinking of here, or if it's more so about deference to the administration.

More than anything, what I would say is that it is about our candidates. There are a few things that they have to be. Obviously, they have to be good........

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