Democrat Senators Urge Party Leadership to Ban Super PACs in Primaries

The resolution seeks 'to bar, to the greatest extent possible, the use of massive private wealth to buy or unduly influence our primary elections.'

John Rigolizzo

Published: 6/17/2025, 1:48:21 PM EDT

Democrat Senators Urge Party Leadership to Ban Super PACs in Primaries — Democratic National Committee chairman Ken Martin speaks after winning the vote at the Democratic National Committee winter meeting at the Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center in National Harbor, Md., on Feb. 1, 2025. (Rod Lamkey, Jr./AP Photo)

A group of Democrat senators called on the party's leadership to prevent super political action committees (PACs) from intervening in primaries.

In a letter to Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Democratic National Committee chairman Ken Martin, a group of eight senators called on the two leaders.

"We cannot allow billionaires and powerful corporate interests to continue undermining democracy by injecting unlimited amounts of money into the political process," they wrote.

The eight Democrats accused "right-wing billionaires" of using super PACs and "dark money groups" to intervene in party primaries and defeat Democratic candidates in general elections. The senators called the United States Supreme Court's landmark decision in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission a "disaster for our country." They pointed out that Schumer had previously advocated for overturning Citizens United and that Martin had promised to bring forth a resolution to overturn the decision. The group also expressed its support for comprehensive campaign finance reform legislation that includes overturning the decision.

"But we don't have to wait until then," they wrote. "There is action we can take now to get billionaire super PACs and dark money out of Democratic primaries."

The senators then pointed to the Arizona Democratic Party, which adopted a resolution establishing a "People's Primary."

The resolution seeks "to bar, to the greatest extent possible, the use of massive private wealth to buy or unduly influence our primary elections." It claims that keeping large donors out of the primary process will ensure that primary candidates "are not benefited by, dependent on, or elected due to outside or independent electioneering spending funded by big donors" who use super PACs to circumvent legal limits on direct contributions to candidates.

The senators urged the national party leadership to follow in Arizona's footsteps. "Before our party can claim to be in favor of campaign finance reform, we need to take action to stop billionaire-funded super PACs from controlling Democratic primaries," they wrote.

The letter was signed by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Ed Markey (D-Mass.), Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), Peter Welch (D-Vt.), Tina Smith (D-Minn.), and Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.).

Republicans recently underwent a similar overhaul in their primary process. In 2022, then-House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy reportedly spent millions using the Congressional Leadership Fund (CLF), the Republican Party's largest Super PAC, and other aligned groups, to funnel money to McCarthy's preferred candidates.

But the GOP underperformed in the general elections that year, winning just nine House seats and a narrow majority. In order to secure his speakership, McCarthy brokered a deal with a group of 20 Republican objectors; one of the provisions of the deal was an agreement between CLF and the Club for Growth that CLF would not spend any money in open primaries in safe Republican districts, nor would it give money to outside groups to intervene in such contests.