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Residents of the Big Apple will find out the identity of their next mayor this election day, in a contest that will decide who governs and protects the country's largest city at a moment when the former president has threatened to deploy armed forces to the city.

In this context, New York has witnessed a mayoral election that has pitted two distinctly opposing Democrats against each other. The contest has turned into an increasingly bitter showdown, 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 party fares in next year's congressional races.

The Rising Progressive

On the left side is Zohran Mamdani, the young democratic socialist whose meteoric rise and grassroots campaign has attracted global notice. Representing the old guard is Andrew Cuomo, the former Democratic New York governor now campaigning independently – and benefiting from the backing of ultra-rich donors and corporations.

As the election approaches, it is the progressive, the former longshot who beat his opponent in the party primary who is solidly positioned as the frontrunner. Mamdani, who has campaigned on a agenda of economic justice and promised to freeze rent for about two million city residents, has led his rival by significant margins across all surveys taken in October, and it is very much the progressive's election to throw away.

The Controversial Campaign

However, Cuomo, who stepped down as the state's leader in 2021 amid accusations of sexual harassment, has made it clear he will fight to the end, and not necessarily in an above-the-belt manner. He has criticized his opponent's goals as unrealistic, and in the final stretch laughed as a radio host made Islamophobic remarks about the candidate, who is Muslim. Two weeks ago, Cuomo was strongly criticized as bigoted after posting an AI-generated ad that featured a slew of racial caricatures and showed Mamdani freeing a convicts.

It's been a particularly ugly conclusion to an election that could be critical to the path that the party, struggling in its response to Trump's power moves, adopts in the near future.

Broader Consequences

If Mamdani secures a clear victory, the establishment party leaders who have declined to support his campaign will be compelled to address a message that has appealed to voters' frustration at inequality, soaring price rises and the establishment. It would be difficult for the Senate leader and Hakeem Jeffries not to embrace at least some of the candidate's ambitious ideas about affordability, given the fresh face has created an excitement within the Democratic ranks arguably not witnessed since the Vermont senator ran for president eight years ago.

Conversely, if the former governor, who had been predicted to sail to victory in the June primary, complete a remarkable riches-to-rags-to-riches victory, it could cement national Democrats' existing approach of cautious, uninspiring resistance – a tactic that has infuriated grassroots members. A NYC rejection of the progressive's optimistic platform could persuade party leaders that the best plan is to remain in the political center – even as polls show the current iteration of the party is deeply unpopular nationwide.

Voter Enthusiasm

Voters in the city appear to favor the progressive agenda. Surveys show that Mamdani supporters are much more excited about their candidate than Cuomo backers, something that has been apparent during the race. The candidate's engaging content on social media, his optimistic vision for the city and his readiness to actually get out and connect with voters in the metropolis has attracted an force of over fifty thousand supporters, many of them young or new participants.

Personal Attacks

Yet, Cuomo, in his late sixties, isn't giving up. And with the risks against him, the former governor has turned to ugly messaging in the final days.

After spending months launching various attacks at Mamdani to see what might stick, the independent has narrowed his focus on targeting the candidate personally. He has called his rival, who was born in Uganda to South Asian heritage, an "radical", and appeared on conservative media for an interview with Maria Bartiromo, where the candidate claimed New York “will not survive” Mamdani as mayor. It reached a nadir recently, when the former governor chuckled and said “that’s another problem” after a broadcaster said the candidate would “cheer” another terrorist incident.

Political Landscape

This strategy mirrors much of what the former president, who has deployed the national guard to Washington DC and threatened to take similar action to New York, has said about the progressive, and perhaps that is expected. A set of wealthy residents, including some who donated to Trump in the 2024 election, have pumped millions into trying to get the independent elected, as other powerful voices have pressured Curtis Sliwa to withdraw from the race.

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 New York state assembly members, launched his mayoral bid in October 2024, not many had heard of him, and in truth, barely anyone even paid attention.

Cuomo, by comparison, entered smoothly into the contest in March 2025 and became the instant favorite. He was the political heavyweight who apparently held every edge. The quintessential political insider, he had married a political dynasty member and served in Bill Clinton’s administration. He became New York governor in 2011, 17 years after his parent, the former governor, left office from the same position.

Mamdani, who was elected to the state legislature in 2020, does not have the same political heritage. But his commitment to providing no-cost transit and free childcare – along with the rent control promise – offer a brighter outlook of the city's direction than his opponent's pessimistic predictions about “mayhem” and rising criminal activity, and his vow to increase police presence.

Recent Challenges

Nevertheless, Mamdani has encountered some challenges in recent days, after footage surfaced suggesting him suggesting the NYPD and the IDF were connected.

“We have to make clear that when the pressure of the police is on your neck, it’s been influenced by the IDF,” Mamdani said in the clip, filmed at a Democratic Socialists of America gathering in 2023. The progressive, a longtime critic of the Israeli government who has said the nation is committing genocide in Gaza, suggested he was criticizing joint training exercises between the NYPD and Israeli forces.

Emotional Response

As the race closes, Mamdani appears to have won sympathy and support, however, for his reaction to his opponent's increasing rhetoric.

The progressive responded to Cuomo’s 9/11 remarks in an heartfelt recording. In it, Mamdani recalled how, when he first ran for the legislature, a family member advised to him that he did not have to disclose about his religion. It was a lesson, Mamdani said, that many Muslim New Yorkers had been told “again and again”: “That safety could only be found in the margins of our city. That it is in those shadows alone where followers of Islam could embrace their full identities, and that if we were to emerge from those seclusion, then it is in those shadows that we must set aside our beliefs.”

Addressing the actions of his opponents, who has alleged Mamd