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dark money
'10 Years in the Making': DNC Passes Resolution to Limit Dark Money in Primaries
"Corporate money has been a disaster for progressive nominees," said Our Revolution board member Larry Cohen.
Aug 26, 2025
Following years of pressure from progressive advocates, the Democratic National Committee's resolutions panel on Tuesday unanimously approved a measure aimed at limiting dark money—undisclosed independent campaign contributions—in presidential primary elections.
The resolution, which was introduced by Chair Ken Martin, was approved during the DNC's summer meeting in Minneapolis. The measure calls for creating a panel tasked with pursuing "real, enforceable steps the DNC can take to eliminate unlimited corporate and dark money in its 2028 presidential primary process."
Tuesday's move stands in stark contrast with the DNC resolutions committee's past refusals to allow a vote on a dark money ban.
Larry Cohen, a leading campaigner against dark money and board member of Our Revolution, an offshoot of Sen. Bernie Sanders' (I-Vt.) 2016 presidential campaign, told Common Dreams Tuesday that "corporate money has been a disaster for progressive nominees."
"Crypto money and AIPAC knocked out at least three or four people we were all supporting," Cohen noted, referring to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, which along with its United Democracy Project (UDP) super PAC spent more than $100 million during the 2024 election cycle. AIPAC's largesse played a key role in helping pro-Israel Democrats defeat former progressive Reps. Jamaal Bowman (D-N.Y.) and Cori Bush (D-Mo.)—two of Congress' most vocal critics of Israel's genocide in Gaza—in Democratic primary contests.
DNC Resolution 4 opposing dark money in presidential primaries passes unanimously at DNC Resolutions Committee.This is a victory decades in the making after long years of opposition and struggle. Much appreciation to Chair Ken Martin.
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— David Atkins (@davidoatkins.bsky.social) August 26, 2025 at 7:11 AM
"If this party blocks corporate money in the nominating process and blocks dark money, those are two great steps," Cohen said, noting that the measure which passed Tuesday is "just a resolution of intent," not an actual change to the party's platform or a policy shift.
"The next step is [that] there will be a committee named that will talk about how we implement this for the 2028 presidential election, and that committee has to report back by the [DNC] meeting a year from now with specific implementation points," Cohen explained.
"That could mean that every potential Democratic candidate for president must sign the People's Pledge," he said, referring to the agreement between then-US Sen. Scott Brown (R-Mass.) and Democratic challenger Elizabeth Warren in 2012 requiring candidates to offset spending by outside groups on their behalf.
"So if a candidate says, 'well I had nothing to do with this, but the money got spent,' in the People's Pledge, the candidate who benefited, Scott Brown, had to make a charitable donation of the same amount of money," Cohen said. "That would be an example of an implementation point."
As for possible legislative solutions like the DISCLOSE Act—a campaign finance reform bill repeatedly torpedoed in Congress—Cohen said that he "wouldn't give that too much weight because you have to change Congress."
"We came close," he said, but then-Sens. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) and Kyrsten Sinema (D-Az.) "blocked a rules change that would have put that bill on the floor with 50 supporters instead of 60… and now you have to imagine getting back to a time when [Democrats] will have 50 again."
"So that's in the resolution, there should be legislative change," Cohen added, "but also in the resolution is that all elected Democratic officials should look at what they can do," including at the state, county, and municipal levels.
"They can adopt rules to limit or eliminate the effectiveness of corporate, dark, and other independent expenditures, like Elon Musk money," Cohen said in a nod of infamy to the world's richest person, who spent upward of $290 million supporting President Donald Trump and other Republicans in 2024.
The US Supreme Court's 2010 Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission ruling, which allowed unlimited independent financial contributions to support political campaigns, unleashed a tsunami of dark money that has been used by billionaires and corporate interests to sideline progressive candidates and buy elections.
Since Citizens United, nearly $20 billion has been spent on US presidential elections and more than $53 billion on congressional races, according to data compiled by OpenSecrets. Spending on 2024 congressional races was double 2010 levels, while presidential campaign contributions were more than 50% higher in 2024 than in 2008, the last election before Citizens United.
The DNC's action on dark money was overshadowed by its rejection of another resolution calling for a suspension of US military aid to Israel.
"This party keeps digging its own grave," said attorney and organizer Asma Nizami. "And it's owned by AIPAC."
Correction: This article originally—and incorrectly—labeled former Sen. Scott Brown as a Democrat.
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13,000+ Back Grassroots Push for DNC to Approve Ban on Corrupting Dark Money
"For those of us focused on progressive social change," says the board chair of Our Revolution, secretive spending by corporations and the ultra-rich "has blocked candidates committed to our entire agenda including workers' rights, Gaza ceasefire, financial reform, rent control, Medicare for All, and renewable energy."
Aug 22, 2025
Ahead of the Democratic National Committee's upcoming summer meeting in Minneapolis, organizers with the grassroots advocacy group Our Revolution on Thursday delivered a petition with 13,000 signatures calling on committee members to adopt DNC Chair Ken Martin's proposal to take a major step toward banning dark money in presidential primaries.
As Common Dreams reported earlier this month, Martin's proposal directed the DNC Committee on Reforms to identify "real, enforceable steps the DNC can take to eliminate unlimited corporate and dark money in its 2028 presidential primary process."
The panel is set to vote on the issue on August 27 as the DNC wraps up the summer meeting.
The DNC has in the past declined to allow votes on resolutions that sought to ban dark money—undisclosed and corporate funds that can go towards election efforts through issue-advocacy groups—with the committee's resolutions panel refusing to bring the issue up for a vote twice in five months in 2022-23, after super PACs had spent $1.35 billion on the 2022 midterms.
While super PACs are legally required to disclose their donors, many effectively act as dark money groups because the sources of their funding are difficult to trace.
"For too long, billionaires and corporate super PACs have drowned out the voices of working people," said Joseph Geevarghese, executive director of Our Revolution, on Thursday. "Democrats can't claim to be the party of working people while letting dark money groups and corporate elites choose their presidential nominees. This resolution is about putting power back where it belongs—in the hands of voters, not billionaire donors."
Paco Fabian, campaign director for Our Revolution, told Common Dreams that Democratic leaders have long been driven by the "fear of scaring away funders that provide a lot of money to the party."
"This resolution is about putting power back where it belongs—in the hands of voters, not billionaire donors."
Our Revolution backed Martin's run to lead the DNC earlier this year in part because of his call for the party to rein in corporate and dark money spending in elections, said Fabian.
"I think he understands that in the past, especially in Democratic primaries, they haven't necessarily been shared contests," Fabian said. "The DNC can really make it a fairer process where it's not about who spends the most money. It's really about who convinces the most people to support them based on their policy positions."
Martin's proposal does not seek to ban super PACs from Democratic primaries, as Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) has demanded, but the progressive senator—whose 2016 presidential campaign led to the founding of Our Revolution—applauded the step urged by the DNC chair earlier this month.
"Congrats to the DNC for starting the process to ban Big Money from presidential primaries," said Sanders.
Martin's proposal notes that the Democratic Party must "demonstrate its willingness to reject certain types of donations if it hopes to win the trust of voters," according to The New York Times.
"The DNC encourages Democratic officeholders and candidates at all levels of government to support efforts to reduce the influence of corporate and dark money in their campaign policy platforms, and to lead by example in rejecting such donations," reads the resolution, which does not specify how candidates would be held to account for accepting dark money from outside groups.
Larry Cohen, board chair of Our Revolution, wrote in The Nation on Friday that "candidates could be required to sign some version of the 'People's Pledge' agreed to by Elizabeth Warren and Scott Brown in the 2012 general election for the U.S. Senate," which required a candidate benefiting from "big money independent expenditures [IE] to donate a similar amount, from their campaign funds to a designated charity."
"Campaign funds are far more valuable than IE money, providing a powerful deterrent," wrote Cohen.
Cohen emphasized that in Democratic primaries, "big money has often weighed in on behalf of centrist Democrats and against progressives," with independent expenditures including dark money hitting record highs in 2024 "as millions of dollars poured into several districts in the weeks before primary elections, demonizing leading Democratic candidates" such as former Reps. Cori Bush (D-Mo.) and Jamaal Bowman (D-N.Y.).
Cohen added:
For those of us focused on progressive social change, this spending has blocked candidates committed to our entire agenda including workers' rights, Gaza ceasefire, financial reform, rent control, Medicare for All, and renewable energy. The Congressional Progressive Caucus which had been advancing towards a majority of the Democratic Party Caucus, has now seen incumbents defeated and new progressive candidates blocked by the onslaught of money from crypto, fossil fuel, and an endless parade of corporate spending, AIPAC (American Israeli Political Action Committee) and other right-wing groups, as well as Republican billionaires.
Our Revolution delivered the 13,000 petition signatures a day after the Times reported on the Democratic Party's plummeting voter registration numbers, with all 30 states that track voter registration by political party finding that Democrats ceded ground to the Republicans between 2020-24.
While Democrats lost about 2.1 million registered voters between those years' presidential elections, the GOP gained 2.4 million.
Fabian expressed hope that Martin's resolution could be the first step towards "a real boon" for the party.
"It can really bring in folks to the party where they're like, 'Okay, it's not about money now. It's about people. And that means I feel like my voice will be heard, as opposed to the current system where my voice will only be heard if I bring a bag of money with me.'"
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Sanders Cheers New DNC Push to Curb Dark Money in Democratic Presidential Primaries
"Billionaire-funded super PACs like AIPAC and crypto shouldn't be able to undermine democracy and determine Democratic candidates," said the senator. "This principle should apply to congressional primaries too."
Aug 12, 2025
U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders and the advocacy group he helped found applauded a new resolution from Democratic National Committee Chair Ken Martin, revealed Tuesday, that aims to limit corporate and dark money spending in the party's next presidential primary.
CNN obtained a draft of the resolution that Martin plans to introduce at the DNC's August 25-27 meeting in Minneapolis. The outlet reported that it calls for creating a panel that would identify and study "real, enforceable steps the DNC can take to eliminate unlimited corporate and dark money in its 2028 presidential primary process."
The draft "does not explicitly mention" super political action committees, "and it's not clear whether it will ultimately restrict super PAC spending in party primaries," according to CNN. It also says that the "only way to solve for this problem in the long term is through congressional action, including a constitutional amendment" to overturn Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, the 2010 U.S. Supreme Court decision that opened the floodgates to corporate spending on elections.
Still, Sanders (I-Vt.)—who ran for president as a Democrat in 2016 and 2020—welcomed the proposal as progress, writing on social media Tuesday, "Congrats to the DNC for starting the process to ban Big Money from presidential primaries."
"Billionaire-funded super PACs like AIPAC and Crypto shouldn't be able to undermine democracy and determine Democratic candidates," he added, calling out the American Israel Public Affairs Committee. "This principle should apply to congressional primaries too."
Sanders and seven of his Democratic colleagues—Sens. Ed Markey (Mass.), Jeff Merkley (Ore.), Chris Murphy (Conn.), Tina Smith (Minn.), Chris Van Hollen (Md.), Elizabeth Warren (Mass.), and Peter Welch (Vt.)—wrote to Martin and Democratic Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (N.Y.) in June, urging them to curb the influence of rich donors and super PACs in party primaries.
Last year's federal elections were devastating for Democrats, who lost not only the White House but also both chambers of Congress. In the wake of that, Sanders said that "it should come as no great surprise that a Democratic Party which has abandoned working-class people would find that the working class has abandoned them."
"Will the big money interests and well-paid consultants who control the Democratic Party learn any real lessons from this disastrous campaign?" he wondered at the time. "Probably not."
While then-DNC Chair Jaime Harrison swiftly lashed out at Sanders in November, calling his critique "straight up BS," the forthcoming resolution is a sign that Martin may be listening to key progressives—as well as registered Democrats and Independent voters, who are frustrated with the party and want to see elected officials fight harder for working people.
Just before the February DNC election in which Martin was victorious, Joseph Geevarghese, executive director of Our Revolution, the group that grew out of Sanders' first presidential campaign, declared that "this moment demands a Democratic Party that provides more than just reactive opposition to an administration bent on rigging our economic and political systems in favor of the wealthiest and most powerful individuals on Earth."
Geevarghese also stressed the need for "leaders who put the party's grassroots base ahead of the donor class" and reject corporate rule, and accused Democratic leadership of "failing disastrously to meet this urgent mandate."
On Tuesday, Geevarghese welcomed the reporting on Martin's proposal, saying that "for the last 15 years, the disgraceful Citizens United ruling has unleashed a flood of spending from dark money groups and corporate super PACs that has drowned out working people's voices and sidelined the progressive candidates our party needs to challenge the corrupt billionaire class."
"This resolution is a crucial step to ensure the Democratic presidential nominee is chosen by everyday people—not deep-pocketed donors and the special interests they serve," he added. "We urge every DNC member to rise to the moment, back this fight, and put power back where it belongs—in the hands of voters, not the billionaires."
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