🔗 Share this article

New Yorkers will discover the identity of their next mayor this election day, in a contest that will determine who runs and protects the country's most populous metropolis at a time when Donald Trump has threatened to send military troops to the city.

In this context, New York has experienced a race for mayor that has pitted two very different Democrats against each other. The contest has become an acrimonious face-off, marked by accusations of racial bias and Islamophobia, but it is the ideological divide between the two main candidates that could have major implications for how the Democratic party performs in next year's congressional races.

The Rising Progressive

In the progressive corner is the democratic socialist, the 34-year-old progressive candidate whose meteoric rise and people-powered movement has attracted global notice. On the establishment side is the former governor, the ex- Democratic New York governor now campaigning independently – and benefiting from the support of ultra-rich donors and big business.

As the election approaches, it is Mamdani, the one-time underdog who defeated his opponent in the Democratic primary who is solidly positioned as the leading candidate. The candidate, who has run on a agenda of affordability and promised to freeze rent for about 2 million city residents, has led his rival by double-digits in every poll taken in October, and it is very much the younger man's race to lose.

A Bitter Contest

However, Cuomo, who resigned as governor in recent years amid allegations of sexual harassment, has made it clear he will battle to the finish, and not necessarily in an above-the-belt manner. He has criticized his opponent's objectives as unrealistic, and in recent days chuckled along as a broadcaster made anti-Muslim comments about the candidate, who is Muslim. Recently, the independent was strongly criticized as racist after posting an artificial intelligence video that featured a series of racist stereotypes and showed Mamdani releasing a convicts.

It's been a particularly ugly end to an election that could be key to the direction that the party, floundering in its reaction to Trump's power moves, takes in the near future.

National Implications

If the progressive wins convincingly, the party establishment who have declined to support his bid will be compelled to address a message that has resonated with voters' anger at economic disparity, inflation and the political elite. It would be difficult for the Senate leader and Hakeem Jeffries not to embrace at least some of Mamdani's progressive proposals about affordability, given the fresh face has created an enthusiasm within the Democratic ranks perhaps not seen since Bernie Sanders campaigned for the White House eight years ago.

Conversely, if the former governor, who had been predicted to sail to victory in the Democratic primary, achieve a surprising riches-to-rags-to-riches victory, it could cement national Democrats' current model of considered, uninspiring resistance – a strategy that has angered the party base. A NYC rejection of Mamdani's progressive, positive message could convince party leaders that the best plan is to stick to the center – even as polls show the current iteration of the Democratic party is widely disliked nationwide.

Campaign Energy

Residents of New York seem to prefer the progressive agenda. Polls show that his backers are much more excited about their choice than his opponent's supporters, something that has been evident during the race. Mamdani's snappy videos on social media, his optimistic vision for the city and his readiness to actually venture out and meet people in the metropolis has drawn an army of more than 50,000 volunteers, many of them young or first-time voters.

Personal Attacks

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

After spending months throwing basically everything at his opponent to see what might stick, Cuomo has narrowed his focus on targeting the candidate personally. He has labelled his rival, who was of Ugandan origin to South Asian heritage, an “extremist”, and popped up on Fox Business for an discussion with a rightwing host, where the candidate claimed the city “will not survive” his opponent as city leader. It hit bottom last week, when the former governor laughed along and said “that’s another problem” after a radio host said Mamdani would “cheer” another 9/11-style attack.

Campaign Dynamics

This strategy echoes much of what Trump, who has sent the military reserves to Washington DC and warned to do the same to New York, 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 2024 election, have pumped millions into trying to elect Cuomo elected, as other powerful voices have pressured Curtis Sliwa to drop out from the race.

Political Histories

For the his team, and his billionaire supporters, are concerned, it should never have come to this point. When the assemblyman, one of 150 New York state assembly members, launched his campaign for mayor in October 2024, not many had known him, and in reality, few even noticed.

Cuomo, by contrast, eased his way into the race in March 2025 and became the immediate frontrunner. He was the political heavyweight who seemingly held all the advantages. The quintessential establishment figure, he had wed a Kennedy and worked in a Democratic presidency. He assumed office as the state's leader in 2011, seventeen years after his father, the former governor, stepped down from the identical role.

The progressive, who was elected to the New York state assembly in recently, does not have the same political heritage. But his dedication to providing free buses and free childcare – along with the rent control promise – present a brighter outlook of the future than Cuomo’s dire warnings about “mayhem” and rising criminal activity, and his vow to hire more police officers.

Recent Challenges

Nevertheless, the candidate has encountered some challenges in the final phase, after video surfaced appearing to show him suggesting the New York police department and the IDF were intertwined.

“We have to make clear that when the pressure of the police is on your neck, it’s been laced by the IDF,” the candidate said in the recording, recorded at a Democratic Socialists of America gathering in recent years. The progressive, a longtime critic of Israel who has said the country is engaging in atrocities in the Palestinian territory, indicated he was criticizing cooperative programs between the city police and Israeli forces.

Emotional Response

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

Mamdani addressed the independent's terrorism comments in an heartfelt recording. In it, the candidate remembered how, when he first ran for the legislature, a Muslim uncle suggested to him that he did not have to tell people about his religion. It was a lesson, he said, that many local Muslims had been taught “again and again”: “That security could only be found in the shadows of our community. That it is in those shadows alone where Muslims could embrace their true selves, and that if we were to emerge from those shadows, then it is in those silence that we must set aside our beliefs.”

Addressing the actions of his opponents, who has claimed Mamd