Bernie Sanders Presses Democrats to Swear Off Super PACs in Primaries

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Bernie Sanders Presses Democrats to Swear Off Super PACs in Primaries

The independent senator from Vermont says top Democrats should tell candidates they will otherwise lose access to party resources.

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The pressure from Senator Bernie Sanders highlights the tension in Democratic politics over how campaigns are funded.

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Tierney L. Cross/The New York Times

By

Reid J. Epstein

Reporting from Washington

April 27, 2026,

5:04 a.m. ET

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Senator Bernie Sanders, an independent of Vermont, is pressing top Democrats to require candidates to reject super PAC support in primaries or face punishment from the national party and its affiliates.

Mr. Sanders said party leaders, starting with Senator Chuck Schumer of New York, the minority leader, and Ken Martin, the Democratic National Committee chairman, must tell candidates to forswear super PAC support or lose access to party resources.

“If the Democrats are going to be honest and consistent in terms of their concerns about money and politics, they’ve got to clean up, in my view, their own house immediately,” Mr. Sanders said in an interview on Saturday. “That means getting super PACs out of Democratic primaries, congressional as well as presidential.”

Super PACs, which can raise and spend unlimited sums in elections but are banned from direct coordination with campaigns, have played an influential role in many high-stakes contests. Such groups flooded last month’s Democratic primary in Illinois with more than $50 million, making the candidates seem almost ancillary to their own races.

Mr. Sanders’s demand comes as he has endorsed candidates in Senate primaries against Schumer-backed contenders in Maine, Michigan and Minnesota. The most heated rivalry is in Maine, where Gov. Janet Mills, whom Mr. Schumer recruited, trails far behind Graham Platner, a first-time candidate for whom Mr. Sanders has held rallies.

Senate Majority PAC, a super PAC tied to Mr. Schumer, is not at the moment spending money on Senate primaries. The group’s spokeswoman declined to comment.

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