David Hogg calls for Gen Z to run for office during 60th anniversary of civil rights march

Gun control activist David Hogg pushed for younger people to run for office at every level to fight against gun violence. 

Mr. Hogg made his plea on Saturday during the rally and march commemorating the 60th anniversary of the March on Washington led by Martin Luther King Jr. 

Mr. Hogg, who survived a 2018 mass shooting at a high school in Parkland, Florida, said that politicians admitted that they won’t protect students and teachers from gun violence. He added that if lawmakers are “admitting that they won’t do anything for us, it’s time to take them head on.” 

“It is time we started running for office as a generation, not just for Congress, the building behind us, but in places like Lansing, in places like Tallahassee, in places like your city hall, every level of government matters and we need you to run,” Mr. Hogg said.

President Biden signed the first major gun control legislation in the last three decades into law last year. The measure incentivized states to pass red flag laws and expanded background checks on people between the ages of 18 and 21. 

Earlier this month, Mr. Hogg launched a grassroots organization called Leaders We Deserve to help elect Generation Z candidates to local, state and federal offices. The organization plans to aid young candidates with fundraising and campaign strategy. 

Leaders We Deserve was founded with help from Kevin Lata, the campaign manager for Rep. Maxwell Frost, Florida Democrat and the first Gen Z candidate elected to Congress. 

The campaign organization plans to support candidates 30 years old and younger for state legislatures and 35 years old and younger in Congressional races. At least 80% of the candidates that the organization plans to support will be running for seats in state legislatures. 

So far, We Deserve Leaders has not announced any candidates that it will support. 

Mr. Hogg came to prominence as a gun control activist after surviving the deadly mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida in Feb. 2018. Former student Nikolas Cruz fatally shot 17 people and wounded 17 others. 

Mr. Cruz was sentenced to life in prison without parole last year after pleading guilty to 17 counts of murder and 17 counts of attempted murder.