As some City Council push to bring job protections and paid sick leave to food delivery workers, industry giants Uber and DoorDash are spending millions of dollars to influence next month’s Democratic primary — backing some incumbents, seeking to topple others and investing in open seats.

The tech platforms’ spending blitz follows withstood legal challenges from both companies, emboldening Council to try for more.

Among the beneficiaries of the independent political spending is Maya Kornberg, who is running to oust incumbent Councilmember Shahana Hanif of Brooklyn. Hanif is lead sponsor on a bill that seeks to expand the city’s paid sick leave law to cover gig workers and co-sponsor of a measure that aims to stop the platforms from deactivating drivers without warning.

The Uber NY PAC has reported spending more than $100,000 on digital ads and mailers promoting Kornberg, filings with the state election’s board show, part of the $1.3 million it has spent so far to boost candidates in 11 different Council districts. Kornberg, an expert on issues of disinformation and money in politics, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Meanwhile DoorDash has established a new independent spending group called Local Economies Forward NY and told Crain’s it plans to spend as much as $2 million on influencing Council races for the June 24 election.

Among other candidates getting a hand from the Uber political spending group are Mercedes Narcisse and Darlene Mealy of Brooklyn, Carmen De La Rosa and Julie Menin of Manhattan and Eric Dinowitz of The Bronx.

“Politicians have allowed costs to skyrocket for drivers while making it harder for them to earn a living,” Uber Senior Director of Public Policy Josh Gold said in a statement. “We are ing candidates who foster policies that improve affordability and access to transportation.”

Hanif said Uber is “interfering” in her election because of her for a bill, sponsored by Councilmember Shekar Krishnan of Queens, that would prohibit the platforms from locking workers out of their platforms for more than 72 hours straight without having a just cause. Workers say they are sometimes locked out of the apps when they try to sign in.

Uber has acknowledged blocking drivers from logging in during periods of low rider demand, saying it’s necessary to protect the company from having to shell out hourly wages under the Council’s minimum-pay law for drivers it doesn’t need on duty.

Hanif hosted a rally condemning Uber’s ad blitz Wednesday evening. “Because District 39 isn’t for sale,” she said in an interview. “I represent a district that is proudly progressive and politically attuned, that is seeing through Uber’s attempt to buy this election, and they’re doing this because I’ve ed gig workers.”

Added Hanif: “To me this is just corporate greed trying to unseat a progressive who is for the workers and working families.”

Labor leaders for the food delivery industry said the companies should invest the money it’s spending on elections on their workers instead — pointing to the NYPD’s controversial new policy of issuing criminal tickets for e-bike violations as one of the top threats to delivery workers today.

“These platforms always want to move things in their favor, instead of providing safe and better working conditions for their workers,” Sergio Ajche, a delivery worker and founder of Los Deliveristas Unidos, said in Spanish. 

“They have created a system that works beautifully for them, but in reality, under the guise of preserving our ‘independence,’ they have for years evaded a lot of responsibility,” added Ajche. 

Bhairavi Desai, the executive director of the New York Taxi Workers Alliance, the union representing cabbies, for-hire and livery drivers, said Uber represents “the worst in American politics” and “the overreach of corporate America.”

“The idea that a company that fights minimum wages for drivers and refuses to give them an independent right to challenge being fired — that company is not concerned about drivers’ well-being, they’re only concerned with their own bottom line.”

Backing the Next Speaker?

Though the Taxi and Limousine Commission and the Department of Consumer and Worker Protection testified in favor of the anti-lockout bill in September, the proposal has yet to advance to a vote. Uber testified against the bill, with Gold saying the company usually deactivates s only in extraordinary circumstances, like when a driver fails to confirm identification or in cases of harassment.

“Uber believes in transparency and, except for extreme situations, provides drivers with resources and notifications before deactivating their s,” he said in his testimony. “This includes alerting drivers that their s may be at risk of deactivation, so that they can take steps to avoid losing access.”

Candidates the company is spending on include one co-sponsor of the bill, Councilmember Crystal Hudson of Brooklyn, who the PAC lists as a beneficiary, along with Dinowitz, of $250,000 in advertising. (Gold noted that the PAC has so far spent $31,067 and $37,220 on each, respectively.) 

“If Uber wants to one of the most pro taxi-worker, pro-labor candidates running for re-election, sounds like it’s Uber’s problem,” Hudson’s campaign manager Jacob Hunter said in a statement to THE CITY.

Another candidate who is getting a boost from Uber, De La Rosa, is the lead sponsor on a bill sought by the ride-hail industry: it would dramatically slash the amount of insurance taxi, e-hail and livery drivers are required to carry, lowering costs for drivers and, ers hope, make the industry more attractive to insurers. The Taxi Workers Alliance, which opposes the bill, says it will raise costs for drivers by increasing their liability.

In an interview, De La Rosa said she was “surprised” to receive a mailer paid for by Uber ing her re-election and said she would continue to gig workers. 

“As a champion for workers’ rights, not just in the Council but also in the state Assembly, in of putting people first, I think my record is clear and solid and speaks for itself,” said De La Rosa, who chairs the Council’s labor committee. Uber has spent $57,000 on mailers promoting her candidacy.

The company has also spent $45,561 on mailers ing Julie Menin, the chair of the workers and consumer protection committee, who is rumored to be seeking the Council Speaker’s chair next year. 

Menin and Dinowitz did not respond to requests for comment about Uber’s spending. 

DoorDash’s PAC has pledged to Menin and another lawmaker rumored to be running for speaker, Kevin Riley of The Bronx, as well as four contenders for seats replacing term-limited Council : Elsie Encarnacion in upper Manhattan and The Bronx, Ty Hankerson in Southeast Queens, Virginia Maloney in midtown Manhattan and Justin Sanchez in The Bronx.

“We’re proud to stand with local leaders who want to grow New York’s local economy, and everyday New Yorkers,” John Horton, DoorDash’s director of North America public policy, said in a statement. “Independent poll after poll shows that this city is ready for pragmatic solutions to tough problems, and we’re happy to candidates who are willing to offer those solutions.”

‘Very Sad and Very Disappointing’

Ligia Guallpa, the executive director of the Workers Justice Project, which advises and represents delivery workers, said the companies’ political spending is another way they are investing their financial resources “to silence workers’ demands.”

“It’s very sad and very disappointing how these multi-billion dollar apps will pour millions into local political campaigns instead of actually investing that money into street safety, guaranteeing a living wage for their workers, or even the possibility of investing that money into ensuring workers have access to workers compensation,” said Guallpa.

The Supreme Court’s 2010 Citizens United decision allows outside spending groups to raise and devote unlimited sums to influence elections, provided that they do not coordinate with the candidates or campaigns.

While donors to federal super PACs may remain anonymous, spawning the term “dark money,” New York City requires disclosure of donors, including the top three donors on mailers and other voter communications.

Though the challenge against Hanif, a democratic socialist and the first Muslim person elected to the City Council, is widely seen as a referendum of her of Palestinians as the siege on Gaza continues, the primary has attracted spending from Wall Street and real estate groups.

Some pro-housing groups have pledged six-figure spends ing the 34-year-old incumbent, who has also gathered from a broad coalition of labor unions and progressive lawmakers.

Though she has so far stayed out of the mayoral primary, U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-The Bronx/Queens) endorsed Hanif earlier this month. Hanif also has the of two Democratic candidates for mayor: Assemblymember Zohran Mamdani of Queens and city Comptroller Brad Lander, her former boss and predecessor in the Council’s 39th District.