DNC condemns dark money influence but avoids taking stance on AIPAC

A Democratic National Committee panel on Thursday rejected a resolution to condemn the involvement of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee in Democratic races, which specifically called out their nearly $14 million in spending in Illinois primary races.

DNC members avoided targeting the influential group that has caused major division within the party and instead chose to approve a broader resolution condemning dark money, and calling for "robust" transparency in campaign finance and a commitment to practices "that align with the Party's core values." Members earlier amended a resolution that specifically targeted AI and cryptocurrency spending to more broadly condemn special interest spending.

The vote by the resolutions committee came after super PACs spent tens of millions of dollars to influence five congressional primary races in the Chicago area — and after Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, who is widely seen as a potential 2028 presidential contender, denounced AIPAC for its current ties to Republican donors.

State Sen. Robert Peters, D-Chicago, railed on outside spending during his primary race for the 2nd Congressional District — and he said the vote shows DNC leadership "seems to be out of step with Democratic voters."

"I think the DNC needs to be very clear that it's too much this idea of a quote unquote big tent," Peters said. "Well, the problem is, it smells like s*** within the big tent right now, and we have some serious problems there...Right now we have multiple super PACs, including AIPAC, that have deep, deep roots and connections to the Trump administration within our party, and that should not be acceptable. I think that's bad for our party, and it means that the party is out of touch."

DNC Member Lottie Shackelford told the panel that she believed the committee had already taken a "very strong position" in opposing dark money in Democratic primary elections through a resolution that passed in August 2025 and led to a reform task force.

"I don't think at this time we should consider continuous resolutions on one subject after we've already taken a very strong and firm position on the underlying issue," Shackelford said. "...We have also agreed that it is not efficient to consider individual organizations one by one because there are too many to name, and it will consume the entirety of the committee's work."

The DNC is currently meeting in New Orleans, where cities that are vying for the 2028 and 2032 Democratic National conventions, including Chicago, are also hosting events for DNC members. Atlanta, Boston, Denver and Philadelphia are also trying to secure the bid.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., applauded the dark money resolution, despite its lack of specificity, calling it "an important step in the fight to get big money out of politics."

"We've already seen AIPAC, crypto and AI industries flood our elections with millions in obscure ads — and we must push back," Warren said on X.

AIPAC also heaped praise on the vote.

"The DNC made clear today that all Democrats, including millions who are AIPAC members, have the right to participate fully in the democratic process," AIPAC spokesman Deryn Sousa said. "And we plan to do just that."

DNC Chair Ken Martin pushed back on criticism of the AIPAC resolution, saying the committee voted to pass a resolution "condemning the corrosive influence of ALL dark money in Democratic primaries."

"We had various resolutions that focused on different industries and groups, and instead of going one-by-one, we passed a blanket repudiation," Martin said on X. "I have made my position on this clear from day one: We must end the influence of dark money in our politics and restore power back to the people."

There were at least five PACs related to AIPAC that tried to influence five congressional races in Illinois — and the group saw two victories: Donna Miller in the 2nd and Bean in the 8th. The groups fared worse in the 9th District, spending money to harm Kat Abughazaleh’s chances and trying to boost state Sen. Laura Fine. Evanston Mayor Daniel Biss won instead. One AIPAC-affiliated group spent big dollars to help Chicago City Treasurer Melissa Conyears-Ervin in the 7th and to oppose real estate executive Jason Friedman. State Rep. La Shawn Ford instead won the race.

Artificial intelligence and cryptocurrency groups also played an outsized factor in Illinois races. Fairshake, the pro-cryptocurrency PAC with connections to Trump supporters spent about $10 million running negative ads about Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton in the Democratic Senate primary, and $2.5 million against Ford in the 7th District race to replace retiring U.S. Rep. Danny Davis. Both candidates they targeted won comfortably.

Think Big, the Democratic arm of the pro-AI PAC Leading the Future, spent $1.4 million supporting Jesse Jackson Jr. in the 2nd Congressional District and $1.1 million for Melissa Bean in the 8th. The PAC, funded by OpenAI stakeholders, won one (Bean) and lost one (Jackson).