() The Democratic National Committee is calling for a new vote for two vice chair positions due to a procedural challenge over the officer elections that took place Feb. 1.

The DNC claims this is not related to the service of any DNC officer. However, David Hogg, one of the current vice chairs, has raised the ire of the DNC and sees this as a way to push him out quickly.

Hogg is a survivor of the Parkland school shooting that took place in 2018. He has become a vocal gun control activist and was recently elected to be a vice chair at-large of the DNC.

He is also the head of an organization, Leaders We Deserve, which recently announced it would support primary challenges to some Democratic congressmembers they feel are ineffective. 

previously spoke with Hogg about his primary plans, and he said the group was looking at more than a dozen possible challenges. However, with potential retirements and the possibility that they won’t find strong enough challengers in some districts, that number could decrease.

Hogg says previous vice chairs and organizations including the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee have supported primary candidates in the past.

The DNC, however, has said that any officer must remain neutral in primaries. They planned to pass an official rule to that effect later this year. 

On a call with reporters recently, DNC Chair Ken Martin said he told Hogg he has to choose between his role as vice chair or supporting these primary challengers; he couldn’t do both.

However, the DNC may make that decision for Hogg. In a detailed news release, the DNC said that after the officer elections, another vice chair candidate submitted a challenge Feb. 28, citing a procedural error in the tabulation of votes. 

The DNC Credentials Committee met virtually Monday and agreed to “grant the challenge and administer ballots to complete the election for the final two Vice Chair positions.”

These election impacts both Hogg and Malcolm Kenyatta, another vice chair. However, Kenyatta has not ruffled feathers in the way Hogg has, so he may be elected again.

Hogg released a statement saying in part, “Today, the DNC took its first steps to remove me from my position as Vice Chair At-Large. While this vote was based on how the DNC conducted its officers’ elections, which I had nothing to do with, it is also impossible to ignore the broader context of my work to reform the party, which loomed large over this vote.” 

He also noted that he “ran to be DNC Vice Chair to help make the Democratic Party better, not to defend an indefensible status quo that has caused voters in almost every demographic group to move away from us. The DNC has pledged to remove me, and this vote has provided an avenue to fast-track that effort.”

The detailed release points out that the challenge is only related to parliamentary procedure, points out that the challenge was filed Feb, 28, and is not related to the service of DNC officers. 

Martin said, “I am disappointed to learn that before I became Chair, there was a procedural error in the February Vice Chair elections … I trust that the DNC Members will carefully review the Committee’s resolution and resolve this matter fairly.”

The DNC said that more information on the process will be announced in coming days.