Rep. Keith Ellison said he backs banning lobbyists from contributing to the Democratic National Committee. | Getty Ellison backs banning lobbyist contributions to the DNC

Rep. Keith Ellison said he would reinstitute a ban on lobbyist contributions if he were to become the next chairman of the Democratic National Committee.

“Yeah, I would,” Ellison told the Huffington Post during an interview on Wednesday, when asked about banning lobbyist donations. “I think it’s important that people feel that the party is their party … There is a pragmatic, perhaps too pragmatic step that you can say, ‘We’ll just take whatever money from whatever source in whatever amount.’ But once you do that, I think you cross a line where people do not feel that the party is really theirs.”


The ban began at President Obama’s behest, but was overturned by former chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz during the 2016 presidential race. Campaign finance was a critical issue during the Democratic primary as progressive firebrand Sen. Bernie Sanders lambasted the influence of super PACs. Ellison was a key surrogate for Sanders during the campaign and the senator has backed the Minnesota congressman for DNC chair.

According to the Center for Responsive Politics, lawyers and lobbyists make up only a small portion of the national party’s budget. During the 2016 cycle, the group contributed $18.7 million to the national party in 2016, just under eight percent of the total money raised.

Labor Secretary Tom Perez, who officially entered the DNC race on Dec. 15, was previously noncommittal on reinstating the ban.

Ellison and Perez are joined by New Hampshire Democratic Party chairman Ray Buckley, South Carolina Democratic Party chairman Jaime Harrison and Idaho Democratic Party executive director Sally Boynton Brown in the field of candidates.