According to data from the Federal Election Commission (FEC), gun control and far-left activist David Hogg is living it well, owing to the numerous donors who have contributed to his PAC.
It was in the wake of the 2022 midterm elections that Hogg established the Leaders We Deserve PAC, whose declared mission is to increase the number of elected members from Generation Z. He co-founded the PAC with Kevin Lata, who managed the campaign of Generation Z Democrat and 2022 electioneer Maxwell Frost (D-FL).
Hogg made a grand entrance when he announced the group’s formation, telling NPR that a “social movement” emerged on the left under Trump’s administration.
According to Hogg, “for every year of Trump’s administration, I believe there was a fresh chapter for this social movement that was created,” including events such as the March for Our Lives, Women’s March, the environmental groups, and the Black Lives Matter movement.
In his speech, Hogg spoke about how his organization was helping to elect young Democratic candidates and how Leaders We Deserve PAC will provide them with the money they need to win:
“Right now, there is a gap for young people at the state legislative level, so we are trying to identify those individuals and offer them our assistance in running for office. We will provide you with all the resources you need and provide coaching and support to help you succeed.”
A lot of the millions collected by Hogg’s group since its inception has gone toward lavish expenditures, including travel, political consultants, and legal costs, rather than electing candidates or carrying out its declared objective. Although one of its members, Frost, was already serving in the United States Congress and another, who was unsuccessful in an Alabama special election, were among the four candidates for whom the group spent money in 2023, According to the FEC, most of the group’s funds did not go toward supporting politicians. Instead, a large portion of it went to other political strategists at different businesses, including Hogg and Lata, who also had a luxurious travel budget.
Leaders We Deserve reported raising just over $3 million in its first year of existence, according to their year-end 2023 FEC filing. Total receipts for the organization in 2023 were $3,035,868.87. For a brand-new PAC, that is an impressive sum of money.
A number of prominent individuals have contributed substantial sums to the PAC. These include filmmaker Alexander Adell ($10,000), Florida investor Gary Sugarman ($10,000), Tusk Holdings CEO Bradley Tusk ($10,000), the affluent Omaha, Nebraska donor Barbara Weitz ($100,000), Chicago Democrat Judy Wise ($25,000), Amos Hostetter of Pilot House Associates ($25,000), Ronald Conway of San Francisco ($100,000), former Massachusetts governor Deval Patrick ($1,000), and the accuser of former NY governor Andrew Cuomo, Dem Lindsey Boylan ($1,000), among others.
Ban Assault Weapons Now!, another political action committee (PAC) in which Hogg is active, contributed $41,000 across three transactions to the group. Being a celebrity after surviving the 2018 Parkland, Florida, high school massacre, Hogg naturally became involved with that group as his first big political venture.
