David Hogg’s PAC: Good Intentions, Questionable Spending
- Claims of backing young progressives clash with spending patterns
- Large sums flow to consultants and digital ads, not candidates
- Even allies are questioning the PAC’s effectiveness and priorities
David Hogg burst onto the political scene as a loud anti-gun activist, then pivoted to building a PAC that promised to elevate younger, more progressive Democrats. The results, according to campaign filings and multiple reports, look more like a consulting bonanza than a targeted candidate operation. From a Republican viewpoint, this reads like another liberal initiative where flashy rhetoric masks waste and inside deals.
Leaders We Deserve pledged big numbers and big impact, but the dollar trail tells a different story. Fox News and Axios dug into filings showing millions routed to consultants, digital ads that largely promote the PAC itself, and even a ClassPass subscription. For conservatives watching, it’s a familiar pattern: big promises, underwhelming outcomes, and money flowing to the political class rather than to real voters.
Here’s the raw quote the press pulled together about the PAC’s finances:
David Hogg’s PAC spent millions on consultants, ads and fitness classes, records show: report
Despite pledging to spend $20 million to back younger, more progressive candidates, a PAC led by Democratic activist David Hogg has spent millions of dollars on political consultants, ads and even fitness classes.
The PAC, Leaders We Deserve, spent just $455,000 to back three candidates in tough Democratic primary races over the first eight months of 2025, Axios reported.
That figure stands in contrast to the roughly $2.5 million spent on consultants, $1.1 million on digital ads, $965,000 on building donor lists and nearly $5,000 on the fitness class subscription service ClassPass, according to federal campaign filings.
“We provide a wellness benefit to our employees, like many employers across the country,” Kevin Lata, co-founder and executive director of Leaders We Deserve, told Axios. “Our projections show that every $1 we put into these investments will net $3-$5 by the end of the cycle. This helps to make sure every donation goes farther than it otherwise would.”
Even outlets that usually give Democrats a pass are taking notes. Mediaite and others pointed out the PAC’s limited endorsements and poor results in primary battles, raising real questions about efficacy. From a conservative perspective, donors deserve transparency and results, not a creature comfort budget and consultant retainer lists.
More context from Mediaite appears below and repeats the same concern: Hogg’s PAC spent heavily on building its machinery while producing almost no competitive victories in Congress. The lone sizable payout to a New York City mayoral effort is a small consolation for donors expecting nationwide change. If this pattern continues, voters and conservative critics will rightly ask whether Leaders We Deserve is about leadership or lining pockets.
Mediaite’s reporting specifically notes the PAC’s weak record and outsized consultant spending, and the numbers speak for themselves. Hogg’s rhetoric about listening to working people feels hollow when contrasted with the cash trail. At the end of the day, political operations should deliver wins, not wellness perks and consultant fees.
Per Alex Thompson and Holly Otterbein, Leaders We Deserve, “hasn’t endorsed any challengers to Democratic incumbents in Congress” and “has been successful in just one” of the meager three contests it has participated in.
That lone success came in New York City’s mayoral race, which saw Leaders We Deserve dole out $300,000 to a PAC supporting Zohran Mamdani, the eventual winner of the Democratic primary. The other candidates backed by Hogg, Arizona’s Deja Foxx ($150,000) and Virginia’s Irene Shin ($5,000) lost by 39 and a half and 45.4 points, respectively.
The amount spent on those races pales in comparison to the amount spent on political consultants ($2.5 million) and digital ads for itself ($1.1 million).
Hogg himself has previously blasted other members of his party for listening “to the consulting class instead of the working class because increasingly, our party has surrounded itself simply with people who just constantly agree with it consistently rather than talking to actual people on the ground.”
If the PAC keeps this up, donors should demand better stewardship or take their money elsewhere. And if Hogg needs another career path after politics, maybe MSNBC will take him—if viewers don’t notice the disconnect first.
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