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Residents of the Big Apple will find out the identity of their new city leader this election day, in a contest that will decide who runs and protects the nation's largest city at a moment when Donald Trump has threatened to send military troops to the urban center.

In this context, New York has witnessed a race for mayor that has matched two very different Democratic figures against one another. The election has turned into an acrimonious face-off, laced with alleged racial bias and Islamophobia, but it is the ideological divide between the two main candidates that could have significant consequences for how the party fares in next year's congressional races.

The Progressive Challenger

On the left side is the democratic socialist, the young democratic socialist whose rapid ascent and grassroots campaign has brought international attention. Representing the old guard is Andrew Cuomo, the ex- Democratic New York governor now campaigning independently – and enjoying the backing of wealthy contributors and corporations.

With days to go, it is the progressive, the former longshot who defeated his opponent in the Democratic primary who is solidly positioned as the frontrunner. The candidate, who has run on a agenda of affordability and promised to freeze rent for about 2 million New Yorkers, has outpaced Cuomo by double-digits in every poll conducted in October, and it is very much the progressive's election to throw away.

A Bitter Contest

However, Cuomo, who stepped down as the state's leader in 2021 amid allegations of misconduct, has made it clear he will fight to the finish, and not necessarily in an above-the-belt fashion. He has criticized Mamdani's objectives as unrealistic, and in recent days laughed as a radio host made Islamophobic remarks about the candidate, who is Muslim. Two weeks ago, the independent was strongly criticized as bigoted after sharing an artificial intelligence video that included a slew of racist stereotypes and showed his opponent releasing a group of criminals.

This represents a rather grubby end to an election that could be critical to the path that the party, floundering in its response to Trump's power moves, takes in the near future.

National Implications

Should Mamdani wins convincingly, the party establishment who have declined to support his bid will be forced to reckon with a message that has resonated with voters' frustration at economic disparity, inflation and the establishment. It would be hard for Chuck Schumer and the House leader not to embrace at least some of the candidate's progressive proposals about economic justice, given the newcomer has generated an excitement within the Democratic ranks perhaps not seen since Bernie Sanders ran for president eight years ago.

However, should Cuomo, who had been predicted to sail to victory in the June primary, complete a surprising riches-to-rags-to-riches victory, it could reinforce national Democrats' existing approach of cautious, uninspiring resistance – a strategy that has infuriated the party base. A New York rejection of Mamdani's optimistic platform could convince party leaders that the best plan is to stick to the political center – even as polls show the present version of the party is deeply unpopular nationwide.

Voter Enthusiasm

Residents of the city appear to favor the Mamdani vision. Polls show that Mamdani supporters are far more enthusiastic about their choice than his opponent's supporters, something that has been evident throughout the campaign. Mamdani's snappy videos on social media, his hopeful outlook for the city and his readiness to actually venture out and meet people in the city has attracted an army of over fifty thousand supporters, many of them youth or first-time voters.

Negative Tactics

However, the former governor, 67, isn't giving up. And with the stakes against him, the ex-leader has resorted to negative campaigning in recent weeks.

Following extensive launching various attacks at his opponent to see what might stick, Cuomo has concentrated on attacking Mamdani directly. He has labelled his rival, who was of Ugandan origin to South Asian heritage, an “extremist”, and appeared on Fox Business for an discussion with a rightwing host, where the candidate claimed New York “will not survive” his opponent as mayor. It hit bottom last week, when Cuomo chuckled and said “that’s another problem” after a radio host said Mamdani would “cheer” another 9/11-style incident.

Political Landscape

The line of attack mirrors much of what the former president, who has sent the military reserves to Washington DC and threatened to take similar action to NYC, has said about the progressive, and maybe that shouldn’t come as a surprise. A group of wealthy residents, including some who donated to the Republican in the last presidential race, have invested heavily into trying to get Cuomo into office, as other influential figures have pressured Curtis Sliwa to withdraw from the contest.

Political Histories

As far as the Cuomo camp, and his wealthy backers, are concerned, it should not have reached to this point. When the assemblyman, one of one hundred fifty state legislators, launched his mayoral bid in last year, few had heard of him, and in reality, barely anyone even paid attention.

The former governor, by comparison, eased his way into the contest in March 2025 and became the instant favorite. He was the big beast who apparently held all the advantages. The quintessential political insider, he had married a Kennedy and served in a Democratic presidency. He became New York governor in over a decade ago, seventeen years after his father, Mario Cuomo, stepped down from the same position.

The progressive, who was voted in to the New York state assembly in 2020, does not have the comparable background. But his commitment to providing free buses and affordable child services – along with the freeze-the-rent pledge – present a brighter outlook of the future than Cuomo’s pessimistic predictions about “mayhem” and unfettered crime, and his promise to increase police presence.

Recent Challenges

Nevertheless, Mamdani has faced difficulties in the final phase, after footage surfaced suggesting him implying the New York police department and the IDF were intertwined.

“We have to make clear that when the boot of the NYPD is on your neck, it’s been influenced by the IDF,” Mamdani said in the clip, recorded at a DSA gathering in 2023. The progressive, a longtime critic of Israel who has said the country is engaging in atrocities in the Palestinian territory, indicated he was criticizing joint training exercises between the city police and Israeli forces.

Powerful Moment

With the election nearing, Mamdani seems to have gained sympathy and support, however, for his response to Cuomo’s increasing rhetoric.

The progressive addressed Cuomo’s terrorism comments in an heartfelt recording. In it, Mamdani recalled how, when he first campaigned for state assembly, a family member suggested to him that he did not have to disclose about his Muslim faith. It was a lesson, Mamdani said, that many Muslim New Yorkers had been taught “again and again”: “That security could only be found in the shadows of our community. That it is in those hidden spaces alone where Muslims could embrace their full identities, and that if we were to emerge from those seclusion, then it is in those silence that we must set aside our faith.”

Speaking to the behavior of his opponents, who has alleged Mamd