In 2004, Bender was a top fundraiser for John Kerry's presidential campaign. He was also an early supporter of Barack Obama's 2008 presidential campaign. Being of Jewish descent, in August 2015 he signed – as one of 98 members of the Los Angeles' Jewish community – an open letter supporting the proposed nuclear agreement between Iran and six world powers led by the United States "as being in the best interest of the United States and Israel."