In a memo obtained by the Washington Examiner, Congressional Progressive Caucus Chairwoman Pramila Jayapal (D-WA), Chairman-elect Greg Casar (D-TX), and Reps. Maxwell Frost (D-FL), and Chris Deluzio (D-PA) call on the DNC to prohibit corporate PAC donations and “push to ban SuperPAC spending in Democratic primaries.”

The memo comes after Democrats saw a decrease in support among the working class in the 2024 elections, prompting Vice President Kamala Harris to lose all the swing states and the popular vote to President-elect Donald Trump. Harris lost despite outraising Trump, while super PACs and outside groups were huge contributors to both candidates.

Since November, progressive leaders have been vocal about calling on establishment Democrats to urge reflection on how the party can alter messaging and platforms to show working-class voters they are the priority.

Among the points demanded in the progressives’ memo is to reinstate a 2008 ban on corporate PAC donations and prioritize funding from the “7 million+ grassroots donors” who contributed to Democratic campaigns in 2024 — “rather than Big Money and dark money donors who do not share our values.”

Progressives are urging the incoming chairperson, to be decided by Democrats next year, to establish a committee that would help state campaigns and committees limit or eliminate dark money in primaries.

“I don’t think that corporations should be able to donate in the first place to candidates, so I think it’s a good statement to show that we’re working for working people if we don’t accept those in our Democratic primaries,” Frost told the Washington Examiner.

Frost, who is the first Generation Z member of Democratic leadership, ran a campaign on wanting to reconnect the Democrats with young male voters by utilizing social media and influencers to mobilize the younger generations.

So far, there are five declared candidates for DNC chair: Minnesota Democratic Party Chairman Ken Martin, Wisconsin Party Chairman Ben Wikler, former Democratic Maryland Gov. and Social Security Administrator Martin O’Malley, New York Democratic state Sen. James Skoufis, and Robert Kennedy Houton.

In an interview with the Washington Examiner, Houton said he supports eliminating PAC money from elections — particularly primaries after he ran an unsuccessful bid for the Democratic U.S. Senate nomination captured by Sen.-elect Angela Alsobrooks (D-MD).

Houton was outspent by $100 million, he said, noting he doesn’t fault businessmen for spending their money but thinks it makes it harder for non-establishment candidates to break through.

“That’s the reason why I was able to make this decision pretty quickly, is if someone has fresh ideas and they’re bold and they want to make change and they want to communicate that message, it’s near impossible to do it if you’re crowded out and the airwaves are bought up and everything else is bought up — every channel to communicate is bought up by a super PAC,” Houton said.

“I do agree in the primaries to get rid of the corporate PAC money because then you have limitless money where someone who might have tremendous appeal, even if they were able to generate that grassroots support, it’s going to be too little, too late in an abbreviated primary,” Houton added.

Other requests from the memo are asking the DNC to take an “immediate assessment” of the Democrats’ political consulting practices and businesses and terminating those who have not been helpful or successful. Another request is to create a 10-year plan to invest in reaching and turning out young voters, particularly on college campuses, and rebuild the multiracial and poor working-class base in all 50 states.

“We want to make sure that every decision that the DNC is making for the service of winning back working-class people and winning the working-class votes. So this is part of that,” Frost said. “The way we conduct our primaries is very important. That’s why I signed onto the letter.”

The DNC will host its DNC Winter Meeting for members on Jan. 30 through Feb. 1 next year, with a vote on the chair, vice chairs, and other executive positions set to be held on Feb. 1.

Mabinty Quarshie contributed to this report.