On Thursday, Democratic National Committee (DNC) Chairman Ken Martin said he gave Vice Chairman David Hogg an ultimatum in regard to challenges against incumbents in their party.

Hogg recently committed a reported $20 million through his group, Leaders We Deserve, to help candidates unseat “ineffective” House Democrats in safe blue districts after President Donald Trump and Republicans won control of the White House and Congress in the 2024 election. The move has unnerved some members of his party, including veteran Democrat strategist James Carville, even as their leaders on Capitol Hill face dismal poll numbers.

“I have great respect for David Hogg. I think he’s an amazing young leader who’s done so much already to help move our movement forward,” Martin said in a video published by Fox News.

“And while, certainly, I, you know, understand what he’s tried to do,” he added. “As I’ve said to him, ‘If you want to challenge incumbents, you’re more than free to do that, but just not as an officer of the DNC, because our job is to be neutral arbiters. We can’t be both the referee and also the player at the same time. You have to make a decision.'”

Hogg, a gun control advocate who was elected to a DNC vice chair role in February, issued a combative statement after Martin made his comments.

“They’re trying to change the rules because I’m not currently breaking them,” Hogg said. “As we’re seeing law firms, tech companies, and so many others bowing to Trump, we all must use whatever position of power we have to fight back. And that’s exactly what I’m doing.”

He also said, “The role of the DNC is to set the Presidential primary calendar, set the Presidential debate schedule, to help strengthen our state parties, play a key role in building our data infrastructure for the party, and to be the campaign in waiting for whoever the next Democratic nominee is. Nothing I’m doing is at odds with any of that.”

Martin said he asked all DNC officers to sign and abide by a neutrality pledge. He noted that almost every member did.

“Let me be unequivocal: No DNC officer should ever attempt to influence the outcome of a primary election, whether on behalf of an incumbent or challenger. … Voters should decide who our primary nominees are, not DNC leadership,” Martin said.

Canada’s Conservative party has narrowed the gap with Prime Minister Mark Carney’s ruling Liberals to only 3.6 percentage points, just four days before Monday’s national election.

According to a rolling three-day CTV News-Globe and Mail-Nanos poll, the Liberals hold 42.9% support with the Conservatives at 39.3%.

The 3.6-point gap has narrowed significantly from 5.6 points just a day earlier, a significant momentum shift toward opposition leader Pierre Poilievre’s campaign focused on economic concerns and public safety under Liberal governance.

“We can’t afford a fourth Liberal term of rising costs and crime,” Poilievre told reporters in Halifax, Nova Scotia, on Thursday, pledging to scrap electric-vehicle sales mandates, per Reuters.

His campaign has emphasized domestic issues, while Carney has focused heavily on U.S. tariffs and potential “threats” posed by President Trump.

Paul Thomas, a professor emeritus at the University of Manitoba, suggests the polls may be tightening because of the “diminished sense of crisis” regarding relations between the United States and Canada.

He noted that voters’ focus appears to be shifting back to cost-of-living concerns, while Poilievre’s softening of his campaign tone may also be attracting support.

The Conservative surge follows the release of the party’s extensive platform and the two candidates’ debates last week.

In recent years, Canada has implemented a federal carbon tax, stricter gun control measures, and substantially increased immigration targets – policies that opposition parties argue have contributed to the country’s cost-of-living crisis.

While Carney has made United States relations the centerpiece of his campaign, his rhetoric in recent weeks has become increasingly dramatic in an attempt to exploit the fear of American overreach that many Canadians appear to have.

“In this crisis, we have to prepare for America’s threats to our very sovereignty. They want our land, our resources, they want our water, they want our country,” Carney alarmingly declared, per Politico.

Even with a popular vote victory, pollsters caution that the Liberals might secure only a minority government, leaving Carney dependent on smaller parties to govern.

The New Democratic Party, currently polling at 7.2%, could become the kingmaker in a closely contested parliament.

This shift, combined with the Conservative Party’s recently released detailed economic plan, appears to be resonating with voters concerned about domestic issues.

The election represents a clear contrast between Carney’s focus on external threats and international relations versus Poilievre’s emphasis on so0-called kitchen table economic concerns.

With just days remaining before Canadians cast their ballots, both campaigns are intensifying get-out-the-vote efforts in key battleground districts, particularly in suburban areas around Toronto and Vancouver, where elections are typically decided.

The three-day CTV News-Globe and Mail-Nanos poll was conducted among 2,000 eligible voters from April 18 to 21, and has a margin of error of 2.3 percentage points, 19 times out of 20, per Reuters.