DoorDash

Quick Take

DoorDash's giving to the four main congressional super PACs is carefully balanced, with identical checks to both parties [1]. Its other large corporate checks in 2025 include $250,000 to a super PAC allied with New Jersey Democrat Mikie Sherrill and $100,000 to President Trump's inaugural committee [5][6][7]. Giving tied to its employees and its PAC leans Democratic: OpenSecrets counts about $344,000 to Democrats and $120,000 to Republicans in the 2024 cycle [8]. Its biggest political fights are over one issue, whether delivery drivers are independent contractors or employees. It put tens of millions of dollars into California's Proposition 22 in 2020, which kept drivers as contractors [9][10]. In 2025 it was Wisconsin's top lobbying spender while backing a similar bill that the Republican legislature passed and the Democratic governor vetoed [11]. In New York City it gave $1 million to a super PAC that opposed Zohran Mamdani, who won the 2025 mayor's race [12].

Two Parties, Same-Size Checks

Federal Election Commission (FEC) records show DoorDash's corporate gifts to the four big congressional super PACs come in matching amounts [1]. House Majority PAC received $100,000 in January 2024 and $75,000 in April 2025 [1]. Senate Majority PAC received $100,000 in April 2024 and $75,000 in April 2025 [1]. On the Republican side, the Senate Leadership Fund received $100,000 in May 2024 and $75,000 in March 2025, and the Congressional Leadership Fund received $100,000 in May 2024 and $75,000 in April 2025 [1].

Giving by the company's PAC and by people who list DoorDash as their employer runs Democratic. OpenSecrets combines those sources and counts $879,861 tied to DoorDash in the 2024 cycle, with $343,531 going to Democrats and $119,946 to Republicans among party-linked recipients [8]. Kamala Harris's campaign received $70,448 from individuals tied to the company, and Donald Trump's received $17,602 [13]. Democrats got 78 percent of party-linked money tied to DoorDash in the 2022 cycle and 86 percent in the 2020 cycle [8].

DoorDash has given to the inaugural committees of presidents from both parties. FEC records show a $250,000 corporate gift in February 2021 to PIC 2021, Inc., the committee that raised money for President Biden's inauguration [5][14]. The company's own political engagement report lists $100,000 to the Trump Vance Inaugural Committee among its 2025 contributions [6].

Other corporate checks have gone to groups tied to individual politicians. In May 2025 DoorDash gave $250,000 to One Giant Leap PAC [5], a super PAC allied with Mikie Sherrill that was backing the New Jersey Democrat in that year's primary for governor [7][15]. It gave $50,000 in November 2025 to In This Together PAC, which Kentucky's Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear launched to help elect Democrats [5][16], and $50,000 in September 2026 to Unity First PAC, which was launched by Maryland's Democratic Gov. Wes Moore and his political associates [5][17]. Earlier FEC entries include $50,000 to House Majority PAC in September 2022, $25,000 to the Democratic Lieutenant Governors Association's PAC in April 2024, and $12,400 to California Gov. Gavin Newsom's 2022 campaign [5].

The company also has an employee-funded committee, called DashPAC, which registered with the FEC in July 2022 [18]. From January 2025 through mid-October 2026 it raised $142,500, all from individuals, and gave $115,500 to other political committees [18]. It gave $15,000 to the National Republican Senatorial Committee in January 2024 and again in March 2025 [5].

Xu, who controls a majority of the shareholder vote, also gives personally. FEC records under his name list $59,800 in December 2023 to a committee called Newsom for CA Governor 2022, $3,050 earmarked in 2019 for Pete for America, the presidential campaign of Democrat Pete Buttigieg, and $5,000 to DashPAC in each of four years [19].

How DoorDash Describes Its Politics

In its 2025 Political Engagement Report, DoorDash lists five public policy priorities: a future of work that pairs worker independence with new protections and benefits, local business growth, fighting food insecurity, tax policies that support economic growth, and transportation solutions for cities [6]. The report says every corporate political contribution is reviewed and approved by an internal committee drawn from its policy, legal and finance teams, and that the board receives information on the company's political giving [6]. It adds that its contributions "do not represent unqualified support" for any campaign, candidate or organization [6].

Giving in the States

The same report lists hundreds of corporate contributions DoorDash made in 2025 across about 30 states, most of them checks of a few thousand dollars or less to state and local candidates and committees [6]. The largest were the New York City super PAC gifts described below and $300,000 to the California Asian Chamber of Commerce Candidate Political Action Committee [6]. Party committees on both sides received money. The New York State Democratic Committee's housekeeping account got $50,000 across three checks, while South Carolina's House Republican Campaign Committee and Senate Republican Caucus Committee got $25,000 each, as did the Associated Republicans of Texas Campaign Fund [6]. In Wisconsin, where DoorDash was lobbying on driver classification, the report lists a total of $12,000 to each of four legislative campaign funds, two Democratic and two Republican [6].

The Fight Over Who Counts as an Employee

DoorDash's largest political spending has gone to keeping its drivers, called Dashers, classified as independent contractors rather than employees. Employees would be owed benefits such as workers' compensation insurance, minimum wage and unemployment insurance [11].

In California, DoorDash was a lead funder of Proposition 22 in 2020, a ballot measure that exempted app-based delivery and ride companies from a state law that would have made their drivers employees [9]. DoorDash contributed $52.1 million to the Yes campaign, which raised $205.7 million in all, the most an initiative campaign had ever received in California, against $18.9 million for the opposition [10]. Voters approved it 58 percent to 42 percent [9].

The fight then moved to court. The Service Employees International Union and four drivers sued, and an Alameda County judge ruled the measure unenforceable in August 2021 [10]. A state appeals court reversed that ruling in March 2023 [10]. On July 25, 2024, the California Supreme Court upheld the law, and DoorDash declared that "Prop 22 is here to stay" [20].

In Wisconsin, DoorDash spent nearly $2.2 million lobbying the state in 2025, more than any other organization, according to filings reviewed by The Badger Project [11]. It backed a bill that would have defined app-based drivers as independent contractors and let companies offer optional "portable benefits" accounts [11]. Republicans who control the legislature passed it mostly along party lines, and Democratic Gov. Tony Evers vetoed it in August 2025 [11]. Americans for Prosperity and the state's main business groups also supported the bill; the state AFL-CIO was the only group to report lobbying against it [11].

In Seattle, DoorDash spent more than $1 million between January and mid-August 2024 lobbying to repeal the city's minimum pay law for app-based delivery drivers, according to city records reviewed by Axios [21].

In Washington, D.C., DoorDash's own lobbying reports, which include what it pays outside firms, total $1.64 million for 2024 and $2.38 million for 2025 [22].

No Tax on Tips and a White House Delivery

DoorDash has publicly promoted "No Tax on Tips," the federal tax break on tipped income. On April 13, 2026, a DoorDash driver, Sharon Simmons of Arkansas, delivered McDonald's to President Trump at the Oval Office, and Trump tipped her $100 [23][24]. DoorDash promoted the visit as the first White House delivery and said it was meant to mark the impact of the policy, which the company estimates has saved its drivers hundreds of millions of dollars [24]. In May 2026 the company also backed a proposal by New York's Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul to end state income tax on up to $25,000 of tipped income, and signed a joint letter to state leaders supporting it [25].

New York's Mayoral Race

DoorDash spent heavily in New York City's 2025 elections. Its own report lists two separate gifts: $1 million to Fix the City, Inc. and $1.8 million, in two payments, to Local Economies Forward NY [6]. Fix the City was a super PAC that opposed Zohran Mamdani in the mayoral race [12]. New York Focus describes Local Economies Forward NY as DoorDash's own city-level super PAC, and reported that it spent more than $800,000 on six City Council candidates, all of whom won their primaries, and $368,000 on Andrew Cuomo's mayoral campaign [26]. The Intercept put DoorDash's spending against Mamdani and in favor of Cuomo in that election cycle at around $1.4 million [12]. Mamdani won and became mayor [12].

In May 2026, DoorDash registered a state-level super PAC with the same name to support four New York Assembly incumbents facing primary challengers affiliated with the Democratic Socialists of America or the Working Families Party [26]. A DoorDash policy executive said the company backs "leaders who are focused on local economic growth, affordability, and opportunity" [26]. State records show DoorDash also lobbied the Assembly's Democratic majority in 2026 on bills regulating e-bikes and on a bill that would ban companies from using algorithms to set delivery time limits for workers [26]. It had seven lobbying firms on retainer in New York City and Albany and paid them a combined $98,000 in January and February 2026 [26].

In September 2026, DoorDash agreed to a $131.5 million settlement with New York City over underpaying delivery workers [12]. The city's Department of Consumer and Worker Protection said more than $115 million would go to more than 260,000 workers, with more than $16 million in penalties and costs, and that its investigation covered more than 152 million payments and 110 million working hours [27]. The agency said DoorDash failed to pay thousands of workers at all for work they had done [27]. "Simply put, we screwed up," the company said [12][28]. In its own account, DoorDash said the total includes $12.3 million for drivers who were underpaid or paid late and more than $83 million to resolve a disagreement over how to calculate pay for the time drivers spend online between deliveries [28].

It was DoorDash's second pay settlement in New York in two years. In February 2025, the company agreed to pay $16.75 million to settle the state attorney general's claims that from May 2017 to September 2019 it used customer tips to offset the base pay it had already guaranteed to delivery workers [29]. About 63,000 workers stood to benefit [29].

Stances on Social Issues

In June 2020, DoorDash said it was donating $1 million, with $500,000 going to Black Lives Matter and $500,000 to a fund directed by its Black employee resource group for state and local organizations [30]. In January 2022, the company announced it was becoming a National Corporate Partner of the Human Rights Campaign Foundation, an LGBTQ advocacy group, and making a $100,000 donation to it [31]. In the same announcement, DoorDash said it had endorsed the Equality Act, a federal bill to add sexual orientation and gender identity to civil rights law, and had filed a Supreme Court brief opposing workplace discrimination on those grounds [31]. After the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022, Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Rep. Cori Bush, both Democrats, asked DoorDash and other gig companies about abortion benefits. The lawmakers said the companies' responses confirmed that a new abortion travel reimbursement offered to employees was not available to their independent contractors [32].

What the Instacart Deal Means

The purchase would combine DoorDash's delivery network with Instacart's grocery shopping and store technology business [2]. Instacart works with more than 2,200 retail banners covering nearly 100,000 stores [2]. DoorDash has promised that members of both services would pay one membership fee instead of two, and that grocers would remain free to use other delivery platforms [2]. The deal needs U.S. antitrust clearance and approval in Canada and Israel [2]. It would be DoorDash's second large acquisition in about a year: the company completed its purchase of the delivery company Deliveroo in October 2025 [33].

Where to Find Them

DoorDash delivers in more than 40 countries under the DoorDash, Wolt and Deliveroo brands [3]. Its shares trade on the Nasdaq under the ticker DASH [2]. The company's website is doordash.com.

Footnotes

[1] Federal Election Commission, receipts from contributor DoorDash to House Majority PAC (C00495028), Senate Majority PAC (C00484642), Senate Leadership Fund (C00571703) and Congressional Leadership Fund (C00504530), accessed November 9, 2026. https://www.fec.gov/data/receipts/?contributor_name=DoorDash

[2] DoorDash, Inc. and Maplebear Inc., "DoorDash to Acquire Instacart to Help Local Stores Win," Form 8-K Exhibit 99.1, October 29, 2026. https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1792789/000114036126041111/ef20084547_ex99-1.htm

[3] DoorDash, Inc., "DoorDash Releases Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2025 Financial Results," February 18, 2026. https://s22.q4cdn.com/280253921/files/doc_financials/2025/q4/Q4-2025-Earnings-Press-Release.pdf

[4] DoorDash, Inc., 2026 Proxy Statement (Form DEF 14A), "Security Ownership of Certain Beneficial Owners and Management," April 2026. https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/0001792789/000179278926000018/dash-20260420.htm

[5] Federal Election Commission, receipts search for contributor DoorDash ($10,000 and over, all two-year periods), accessed November 9, 2026. https://www.fec.gov/data/receipts/?contributor_name=DoorDash&min_amount=10000

[6] DoorDash, Inc., "2025 Political Engagement Report," posted April 2026. https://s22.q4cdn.com/280253921/files/doc_document_list/2026/Apr/03/2025-DoorDash-Political-Engagement-Report-4d9461.pdf

[7] David Wildstein, New Jersey Globe, "Super PAC backing Sherrill has raised $1.7 million," October 15, 2024. https://newjerseyglobe.com/campaigns/super-pac-backing-sherrill-has-raised-1-7-million/

[8] OpenSecrets, "DoorDash Inc Profile: Totals," all cycles, accessed November 9, 2026. https://www.opensecrets.org/orgs/doordash-inc/totals?id=D000072628&cycle=A

[9] Ballotpedia News, "California voters approve Prop 22, define rideshare drivers as independent contractors," November 4, 2020. https://news.ballotpedia.org/2020/11/04/california-voters-approve-prop-22-define-rideshare-drivers-as-independent-contractors/

[10] Ballotpedia, "California Proposition 22, App-Based Drivers as Contractors and Labor Policies Initiative (2020)," accessed November 9, 2026. https://ballotpedia.org/California_Proposition_22,_App-Based_Drivers_as_Contractors_and_Labor_Policies_Initiative_(2020)

[11] Peter Cameron, The Badger Project (via PBS Wisconsin), "DoorDash spent nearly $2 million lobbying for a bill in Wisconsin to ban employee benefits for drivers," May 26, 2026. https://pbswisconsin.org/news-item/doordash-spent-nearly-2-million-lobbying-for-a-bill-in-wisconsin-to-ban-employee-benefits-for-drivers/

[12] Meghnad Bose and Macy Hanzlik-Barend, The Intercept, "DoorDash Spent $1.4 Million Trying to Stop Mamdani From Becoming Mayor. Now We Know Why.," September 23, 2026. https://theintercept.com/2026/09/23/doordash-delivery-nyc-mamdani-wage-theft-settlement/

[13] OpenSecrets, "DoorDash Inc Profile: Summary," 2024 cycle, accessed November 9, 2026. https://www.opensecrets.org/orgs/doordash-inc/summary?id=D000072628&cycle=2024

[14] Quartz, "Donald Trump's inaugural fund raised a record amount of cash. Here are the major donors," accessed November 9, 2026 (citing FEC filings showing Biden's PIC 2021, Inc. raised $61.8 million). https://qz.com/trump-inauguration-fund-donors-amazon-openai-meta-1851724468

[15] David Wildstein, New Jersey Globe, "Sherrill super PAC launches new seven-figure ad buy," May 15, 2025. https://newjerseyglobe.com/governor/sherrill-super-pac-launches-new-seven-figure-ad-buy/amp/

[16] Bruce Schreiner, Associated Press (via WKMS), "Kentucky Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear forms PAC to support candidates across the country," January 8, 2024. https://www.wkms.org/government-politics/2024-01-08/kentucky-democratic-gov-andy-beshear-forms-pac-to-support-candidates-across-the-country

[17] Maryland Matters, "Moore's PAC launches first attack on Hogan," September 6, 2024. https://marylandmatters.org/2024/09/06/moores-pac-launches-first-attack-on-hogan/

[18] Federal Election Commission, committee overview for DoorDash, Inc. Political Action Committee (DashPAC), C00820167, 2025-2026, accessed November 9, 2026. https://www.fec.gov/data/committee/C00820167/?cycle=2026

[19] Federal Election Commission, individual contributions search for contributor Tony Xu, employer DoorDash, accessed November 9, 2026. https://www.fec.gov/data/receipts/individual-contributions/?contributor_name=xu%2C+tony&contributor_employer=doordash

[20] DoorDash, "California Supreme Court Upholds Prop 22, Protecting Dasher Independence," July 25, 2024. https://about.doordash.com/en-us/news/prop-22-decision

[21] Melissa Santos, Axios Seattle, "DoorDash spends over $1M to fight Seattle minimum wage law," August 19, 2024. https://www.axios.com/local/seattle/2024/08/19/doordash-minimum-wage-law-lobby

[22] Lobbying Disclosure Act filings, registrant and client DoorDash, Inc., in-house quarterly reports for 2024 and 2025, accessed November 9, 2026. https://lda.gov/api/v1/filings/?client_name=DoorDash&filing_year=2025

[23] Will Weissert, Associated Press, "Trump tips DoorDash driver $100 for delivering McDonald's to Oval Office," April 13, 2026. https://apnews.com/article/trump-doordash-mcdonalds-tax-tips-iran-pope-cdec935afd68b86b264ed1b0de772e1d

[24] DoorDash, "Dasher Completes First Ever White House Delivery to Mark Impact of No Tax on Tips," April 13, 2026. https://about.doordash.com/en-us/news/dasher-visits-white-house-to-celebrate-no-tax-on-tips

[25] DoorDash, "DoorDash Supports New York Proposal to Eliminate State Taxes on Tips," May 4, 2026. https://about.doordash.com/en-us/news/doordash-new-york-state-no-tax-on-tips

[26] Nick Garber and Chris Bragg, New York Focus, "DoorDash Starts Super PAC to Repel Progressive Challengers to Assembly Incumbents," May 14, 2026. https://nysfocus.com/2026/05/14/new-york-doordash-bloomberg-super-pac

[27] New York City Department of Consumer and Worker Protection, "Mayor Mamdani Wins Record $131.5 Million From DoorDash for Delivery Workers," September 22, 2026. https://www.nyc.gov/site/dca/news/065-26/mayor-mamdani-wins-record-131-5-million-doordash-delivery-workers

[28] DoorDash, "Making It Right: Our Settlement with the City of New York," September 22, 2026. https://about.doordash.com/en-us/news/dcwp

[29] New York State Office of the Attorney General, "Attorney General James Secures $16.75 Million from DoorDash for Cheating Delivery Workers Out of Tips," February 24, 2025. https://ag.ny.gov/press-release/2025/attorney-general-james-secures-1675-million-doordash-cheating-delivery-workers

[30] Julie Littman, Restaurant Dive, "DoorDash partners with Kiva to provide funding to Black-owned restaurants," July 8, 2020. https://www.restaurantdive.com/news/doordash-partners-with-kiva-to-provide-funding-to-black-owned-restaurants/581215/

[31] DoorDash, Inc. press release (via MarketScreener), "The Human Rights Campaign Names DoorDash A 'Best Place to Work for LGBTQ+ Equality'," January 27, 2022. https://ca.marketscreener.com/quote/stock/DOORDASH-INC-116169045/news/DoorDash-The-Human-Rights-Campaign-Names-DoorDash-A-Best-Place-to-Work-for-LGBTQ-Equality--37660115

[32] Office of Sen. Elizabeth Warren, "Senator Warren and Representative Bush Urge Labor Department to End Worker Misclassification, Help Ensure Independent Contractors Receive Abortion Benefits," January 5, 2023. https://www.warren.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/senator-warren-and-representative-bush-urge-labor-department-to-end-worker-misclassification-help-ensure-independent-contractors-receive-abortion-benefits/

[33] DoorDash, Inc., "DoorDash Completes Acquisition of Deliveroo," October 2, 2025. https://ir.doordash.com/news/news-details/2025/DoorDash-Completes-Acquisition-of-Deliveroo/default.aspx