Democrats Move to Ban “Dark Money” From Primaries

Washington Watch

April 20th, 2026

Dr. James J. Zogby ©

President

Arab American Institute

For decades, frustrated reformers within the Democratic National Committee have fought for changes in party operations—particularly more financial transparency, accountability, and internal democracy. This past weekend’s meeting in New Orleans represented a hopeful step in the right direction.

Current DNC chair Ken Martin was elected last year in part because he promised to implement these kinds of reforms—and some of that work was evident in New Orleans. There’s greater transparency in the budget. The DNC’s allocations to state parties have dramatically increased (causing some consultants to complain that there’s less for them). Instead of the chair appointing all at-large members to the DNC and hand-selecting members for the decision-making standing committees, the membership elected by their states or party caucuses and councils are empowered to vote on some of the at-large positions. While more can be done, these initial steps are consequential.

The most significant developments related to stopping corporate and dark money: Martin’s insistence on moving forward with reforms and the debate on this issue during the DNC’s general session.

At the August 2025 meeting of party members, Martin was able to pass a resolution that called for banning corporate and dark money from Democratic presidential primaries. “Dark money” is election spending that’s not subject to federally imposed limits or reporting requirements. It doesn’t include campaign contributions by individuals or registered political action committee, which have established limits and must be reported to the Federal Election Commission and publicly at regular intervals. Nor does it include actions by membership groups that may endorse candidates and spend money in consultation with their members. These are also regulated by law and must be reported.

By contrast, mostly unregulated dark money allows billionaires to create groups with nondescriptive names to spend millions of dollars to boost or tank favored candidates or causes—without publicly disclosing its activity. Dark money outlays have grown dramatically in recent years—in some competitive races exceeding by 10 times the amounts spent by candidates or party committees.

In 2023 and 2024, attempts to pass a resolution banning dark money in all Democratic primaries failed, and so reformers were delighted when chair Martin took the lead. His focus was limited to presidential primaries where the party has greatest control over the processes and would not require unilateral disarmament in a general election against Republicans. Following his resolution’s passage, Martin created a Reform Task Force to develop the plan to implement this dark-money ban for the 2028 presidential primaries.

At last weekend’s meeting, two separate additional resolutions on dark money were submitted by members to the party’s Resolutions Committee. One called for banning dark money from groups supporting artificial intelligence and cryptocurrency interests. The other noted the negative role played by pro-Israel individuals and groups that have targeted progressive candidates for defeat. The first resolution was amended to strip mention of the specific groups cited. The second was defeated and passed on to the party’s Middle East Working Group.

At the general meeting, when the Resolution Committee’s final report was considered, a floor motion was introduced to reconsider the two original proposals that mentioned sources of dark money. Both Chair Martin and Resolutions Committee Chair Ron Harris concurred to a debate, which then ensued with multiple speeches for and against. Though ultimately defeated, it was nevertheless noteworthy. 

Over decades, issues of controversy have rarely been debated and then voted on by the full membership. One might describe being a DNC member as akin to going to church, where congregants learn to stand up,  sit down, clap, leave, and not ask tough questions.

At this meeting, however, DNC members debated a topic that had been taboo—the role of pro-Israel billionaires (sometimes Republicans) spending millions of dollars to influence our primaries. While the resolution lost, a not-inconsequential victory was won. A debate was held, the issue aired, and members left empowered. The resolution that passed and will now be implemented by the Reform Task Force will ban all dark money from all sources, including AIPAC.

This weekend’s meeting marked a turning point in enhancing democracy within the Democratic Party. It was an important step on the road to real reform, and, eventually, to victory over dark money.