DoorDash spent approximately $1.4 million during the 2025 New York City mayoral election to oppose candidate Zohran Mamdani and support former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, according to The Intercept. The company made a $1 million donation to the super PAC Fix the City in May 2025, then the largest single donation in the race. Two weeks after taking office, Mamdani’s administration announced a $131.5 million settlement with DoorDash—the largest worker settlement in New York City history—for underpaying 264,000 delivery workers.
Fix the City, which received DoorDash’s contribution, spent $31 million overall in the mayoral race, accounting for nearly half of total outside spending. The group ran ads, mailers, phone calls, and text messages portraying Mamdani as having “radically dangerous ideas” and “a risk New York can’t afford.” One campaign mailer artificially altered Mamdani’s beard, which the Muslim candidate characterized as “blatant Islamophobia.” DoorDash also gave $1.8 million to Local Economies Forward NY, a super PAC that contributed over $360,000 to Cuomo’s campaign.
During his campaign, Mamdani had promised to regulate delivery apps and strengthen protections for delivery workers, earning support from delivery worker advocacy groups. According to The Intercept’s analysis, corporate and billionaire-funded super PACs opposed to Mamdani spent more than eight times what was spent supporting him.
The Department of Consumer and Worker Protection’s investigation found that “DoorDash deliberately paid workers below the Minimum Pay Rate or not at all,” according to the Mamdani administration. Under the settlement, DoorDash will pay over $115 million in worker restitution and over $16 million in civil penalties and administrative fines. The company must submit monthly compliance reports for three years and accept worker-provided data monitoring.
Ligia Guallpa, executive director of the Worker’s Justice Project, stated that “DoorDash decided to invest money in trying to buy our city’s democracy.” DoorDash acknowledged in a statement that it “screwed up,” saying “our mistakes meant some Dashers were underpaid or paid late.”
Key facts
- DoorDash spent $1.4 million in 2025 to oppose Mamdani’s mayoral campaign, including a $1 million donation to the super PAC Fix the City
- Mamdani, after becoming mayor, oversaw a $131.5 million DoorDash settlement affecting 264,000 underpaid delivery workers
- The settlement includes $115 million in worker restitution and $16 million in penalties—approximately 100 times DoorDash’s campaign spending against Mamdani
- Fix the City spent $31 million total, nearly half of all outside spending in the race, with DoorDash among its top three donors
- The investigation found DoorDash deliberately paid workers below minimum rates or withheld pay entirely