DNC chair takes steps to restrict corporate and dark money in 2028 primaries

Source: CNN Politics

PUBLISHED Aug 12, 2025, 5:00 AM ET


Democratic National Committee Chair Ken Martin will ask party members later this month to take the first step towards restricting corporate and so-called dark money spending in the 2028 presidential primaries, siding with progressives in an ongoing intraparty debate over campaign finance rules.

Martin will introduce a resolution at the DNC’s August meeting calling on a new reforms panel to explore ways the party can eliminate corporate and dark money donations from the upcoming presidential primary cycle, according to a draft obtained by CNN.

Progressives, including Vermont independent Sen. Bernie Sanders, have called on the DNC to ban super PAC spending in Democratic presidential primaries for years. Those calls have grown in the wake of increased spending from cryptocurrency groups and pro-Israel lobbying group AIPAC in Democratic primaries.

The draft resolution does not explicitly mention super PACs, and it’s not clear whether it will ultimately restrict super PAC spending in party primaries. The draft concedes the “only way to solve for this problem in the long term is through Congressional action, including a constitutional amendment to overturn Citizens United,” the landmark 2010 Supreme Court case that helped usher in a new era of big money in American elections.

Read more: https://www.cnn.com/2025/08/12/politics/dnc-chair-resolution-restrict-corporate-dark-money