Union Group Backing Adrienne Adams Is Secretly Funded By DoorDash

By Claudia Irizarry Aponte and Marina Samuel, The City

June 17, 2025, 10:46 a.m.

The food delivery platform DoorDash is the sole reported contributor to a political committee promoting City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams for mayor — even as the ads tell voters only that they are funded by a major municipal workers union.

Competent New York has spent nearly $300,000 so far on a pair of radio and Internet video spots boosting Adams as a drama-free champion for workers. City and state records show the group was created by the 150,000-member union District Council 37, which endorsed Adams at the top of a ranked slate that also includes state lawmakers Zohran Mamdani and Zellnor Myrie.

The ads are tagged at the end with a required funding disclosure: “Paid for by Competent NY with funding provided by AFSCME Working Families Fund New York.” AFSCME, the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, is DC 37’s parent union.

CFB records show that Competent New York paid a total of $286,800 for the radio and video ads. Despite requirements for prompt disclosure to the city Campaign Finance Board of contributions to the committee, Competent New York has so far not reported any.

But state Board of Elections records show the group received $150,000 on June 11 from Local Economies Forward NY, an independent spending committee — funded exclusively by DoorDash — that is backing City Council candidates. The Council is currently considering a bill that would require sick leave for delivery workers, but it has stalled with 12 sponsors. It follows ambitious regulation by the Council of the delivery business, including a first-in-the-nation hourly minimum pay rate for workers.

In a statement to THE CITY, John Horton, DoorDash’s head of North American public policy, acknowledged the contributions to the pro-Adams spending group.

“Our goal in New York City has remained consistent — support the candidates who prioritize the local economy and improving life for all New Yorkers,” said Horton. “Speaker Adams has made clear that she is a pragmatic leader who seeks pro-local economy solutions to the problems facing the city.”

A delivery worker for DoorDash in Midtown, Sept. 14, 2022. Credit: Ben Fractenberg/THE CITY

City law requires that the top three donors to an independent expenditure committee be disclosed on all communications with voters. DoorDash has openly provided $1 million to a spending group called Fix the City, which has flooded airwaves and mailboxes on behalf of another candidate for mayor, Andrew Cuomo. The company name has consistently appeared on the group’s ads touting Cuomo and attacking Mamdani.

A consultant working with the group passed along a statement attributed to Competent New York, asserting that AFSCME funds arrived later than anticipated but that the group was bound by CFB rules to disclose the union. The statement also said that the disclosure on the ads has been updated to reflect Local Economies Forward’s contributions.

The group did not say how much AFSCME contributed or provide any documentation of a donation. On Tuesday morning, CFB’s online records, which are updated daily in the days before an election, only showed ads with AFSCME as the sole funder and continue to show $0 in donations to Competent New York.

DC 37 directed THE CITY’s questions to AFSCME, which did not respond to requests for comment. A spokesperson for Adams’ mayoral campaign declined to comment.

Earlier this month, an unnamed spokesperson for Competent New York told City & State that the union planned to put “high six figures” into the committee.

The state record shows the contribution to Competent New York from the DoorDash PAC came on June 11, four days after Competent reported the ad buys to the Campaign Finance Board.

New York City requires independent expenditure groups to report all contributions, and the CFB specifies that reporting to the state Board of Elections doesn’t suffice. Failure to report contributions can result in fines totalling up to 50% of the unreported amount, with additional daily penalties up to 1% of the group’s total spending for missing documentation.

The Campaign Finance Board declined to comment on Competent New York.

This press release was produced by The City. The views expressed here are the author’s own.