Bernie Sanders Calls for an End to Corporate Donations to Democratic National Convention

Courtesy of Creative Commons

By Cecilia Meddock

Presidential candidate and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders revealed his plan to halt corporate donations that go to the Democratic National Convention. 

The plan, focused on eliminating the use of corporate PAC donations specifically, will only go into effect if Sanders wins the democratic nomination in early 2020. 

Sanders is a large proponent of grassroots funding, and he joins Elizabeth Warren in taking a stance against PAC donations, choosing instead to base their individual campaigns on the idea of large amounts of small donors. 

The plan includes a lifetime ban on lobbying from the convention chairs and co-chairs, as well as provisions to prevent them from working for corporations looking for federal approval for mergers or those which hold federal contracts.

“This type of corporate sponsorship is a corrupting influence, and must end if politicians are going to represent the American people,” Sanders said. Large donors such as AT&T, Facebook, and Independence Blue Cross, gave donations up to seven figures to the DNC for the 2016 Democratic National Convention. 

Sanders and his supporters have had issues with the DNC in the past, citing fundraising and candidacy biases during the 2016 election, claiming they favored a more established, central democratic nominee over being objective.

 Joe Solmonese, current convention CEO, says they have no plans to return any corporate donations at this time, regardless of who wins the democratic nomination.