Progressives call out DNC for allowing super PACs aligned with GOP to pour money into Dem primaries

A national progressive organization is calling on the Democratic National Committee (DNC) to ban dark money from being used to fund Democratic primary elections.

The Center for Popular Democracy (CPD) made the announcement just days after Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., sent a letter to DNC leaders urging them to ban super PAC money in primaries.

Analilia Mejia, Co-Executive Director at the CPD told TYT that dark money unfairly influences primary elections. She said, “[A]llowing this dark money actually harms the entire [democratic] process and all stakeholders and I don’t understand why the DNC in this moment isn’t being bolder.”

Mejia says you don’t have to look far to see how dark money tipped the scales during the 2022 midterm election, pointing to it as the main culprit that cost progressive challenger Jessica Cisneros the Texas Democratic primary against incumbent Rep. Henry Cuellar, D-Texas, a right-leaning Democrat who opposes abortion rights.

“She [Cisneros] loses by like a handful of votes. A thousand votes is nothing,” said Mejia, “And so here is this candidate who was more aligned with the Democratic Party’s stated values of protecting the right to choose, and that candidate was undone by special interests that were opaque, that were allowed to operate in a way that […] in my opinion, hurts the long-term goals and goes against the stated values of the party.

In a statement released Friday, Mejia along with CPD Co-Executive Director DaMareo Cooper said:

It’s time to ban Super PAC spending in Democratic primaries permanently. The pathway to primary wins should pass through the people’s will, not the pockets of a privileged few. That’s the other party’s brand. Today’s DNC remains out of step with its base, stated principles, and previous platforms.

Democrats can take a big step toward rebuilding public confidence by passing this resolution. As always, we will work to hold our elected officials accountable and fight for an equitable, multiracial democracy where all our communities can thrive.

In his letter sent to DNC leadership on Tuesday, Sanders wrote, in-part:

Let’s be clear: the disastrous Citizens United Supreme Court decision is undermining American democracy. In the last election cycle, right-wing billionaires funded millions of dollars in spending against progressive candidates in competitive primaries.

Those funds were often used by super PACs to run outrageous and dishonest attack ads. Right-wing billionaires spend unlimited amounts of money to undermine our democracy, mislead voters, and maintain the status quo. When we talk about billionaires buying elections, this is exactly what we are talking about.

Here is the simple truth. The Democratic Party must not allow oligarchs and their super PACs, often aligned with Republicans, to buy Democratic Party primaries. If Democrats really believe in campaign finance reform, we must ban super PACs in primaries. As you know, this week the DNC is holding meetings where there will be a resolution introduced to ban dark money in primaries.

According to Sanders’ letter, a resolution to ban dark money was not allowed to come to a vote during the last DNC meeting.

Mejia says CPD hopes that the DNC will take their points into consideration by allowing the issue surrounding dark money to be openly discussed and not “squelch” the conversation.

“We’re calling on them to live up to their values,” she said.