Bernie Sanders Urges Democratic Leaders to Ban Super PACs in Primaries

In a letter to Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, and DNC Chair Ken Martin, the Vermont senator labeled the current influence of billionaire-funded groups as obscene. He pointed to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) and its $30 million intervention in a Michigan Senate primary as a primary example of this dysfunction. Despite heavy spending to defeat progressive candidate Abdul El-Sayed, the organization is now shifting its financial support to his Republican rival, Mike Rogers.

Sanders contends that the party possesses the internal authority to restrict these groups immediately, without waiting for the long-term goal of repealing the 2010 Citizens United Supreme Court decision. While the DNC has previously resisted calls to curb such influence—rejecting a resolution earlier this year that aimed to condemn the impact of organizations like AIPAC—the pressure is mounting. Recent data from Public Citizen highlights the severity of the issue, showing that corporate super PACs have poured $294 million into the 2026 midterm cycle, accounting for more than half of all reported corporate election spending.