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DNC Chair Proposes Plan to Curb Dark Money in 2028 Nominating Contests

The resolution would task the party’s reforms committee to deliver specific rule changes in 2026 that limit big-money independent spending in the presidential primary.

Overview

  • Ken Martin put a package of nine reforms on the agenda for an August 27 vote by roughly 450 DNC members.
  • The proposal commits the party to eliminating unlimited corporate and dark money from the presidential nominating process beginning with the 2028 cycle.
  • The move follows a 2024 surge in independent expenditures, including crypto-linked and opaque groups, that advocates say boosted centrists and undercut progressives.
  • State parties in North Carolina and Arizona have already adopted resolutions seeking to limit such spending in their primaries.
  • Because court rulings like Citizens United remain in place, the effort centers on internal party tools such as candidate pledges, debate participation rules, and People’s Pledge–style deterrents.