🔗 Share this article

Residents of the Big Apple will discover who will be their next mayor this Tuesday, in a race that will decide who governs and defends the country's most populous metropolis at a time when Donald Trump has vowed to deploy military troops to the urban center.

Against that backdrop, New York has witnessed a mayoral election that has matched two distinctly opposing Democratic figures against one another. The contest has turned into an acrimonious showdown, laced with alleged racism and Islamophobia, but it is the political differences between the two main contenders that could have major implications for how the Democratic party fares in next year's midterm elections.

The Progressive Challenger

In the progressive corner is the democratic socialist, the young progressive candidate whose rapid ascent and grassroots campaign has attracted international attention. On the establishment side is the former governor, the ex- New York governor now campaigning independently – and enjoying the backing of ultra-rich donors and corporations.

With days to go, it is Mamdani, the former longshot who defeated Cuomo in the Democratic primary who is solidly positioned as the leading candidate. Mamdani, who has run on a agenda of affordability and promised to halt rent increases for about two million city residents, has led Cuomo by double-digits in every poll conducted in October, and it is very much the progressive's race to throw away.

A Bitter Contest

However, the former governor, who stepped down as governor in recent years amid allegations of misconduct, has made it clear he will fight to the end, and not necessarily in an fair fashion. He has trashed his opponent's goals as unrealistic, and in recent days chuckled along as a radio host made anti-Muslim comments about Mamdani, who is Muslim. Recently, the independent was strongly criticized as bigoted after posting an artificial intelligence video that included a series of racial caricatures and showed Mamdani freeing a group of criminals.

It's been a rather grubby end to an election that could be critical to the path that the Democratic party, floundering in its reaction to Trump's authoritarian grabs, adopts in the coming years.

Broader Consequences

Should the progressive secures a clear victory, the party establishment who have refused to endorse his campaign will be compelled to address a message that has appealed to voters' frustration at economic disparity, soaring price rises and the political elite. It would be hard for Chuck Schumer and the House leader not to embrace at least some of the candidate's progressive proposals about affordability, given the fresh face has created an excitement within the party arguably not witnessed since Bernie Sanders 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 the party's existing approach of cautious, lackluster resistance – a tactic that has angered the party base. A New York rejection of the progressive's progressive, positive message could persuade Schumer and Jeffries that the best plan is to remain in the center – even as surveys show the current iteration of the Democratic party is deeply unpopular nationwide.

Voter Enthusiasm

Voters in New York seem to prefer the progressive agenda. Polls show that Mamdani supporters are far more enthusiastic about their candidate than Cuomo backers, something that has been apparent throughout the campaign. Mamdani's snappy videos on social media, his optimistic vision for the city and his readiness to actually get out and meet people in the metropolis has drawn an army of more than 50,000 volunteers, many of them youth or new participants.

Personal Attacks

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

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

Campaign Dynamics

The line of attack mirrors much of what the former president, who has deployed the national guard to Washington DC and warned to take similar action 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 Trump in the last presidential race, have invested heavily into trying to elect the independent elected, as other influential figures have pressured the Republican candidate to drop out from the race.

Political Histories

As far as the Cuomo camp, and his wealthy backers, are worried, it should not have reached to this point. When the assemblyman, one of 150 state legislators, launched his campaign for mayor in October 2024, few had known him, and in truth, few even paid attention.

Cuomo, by contrast, entered smoothly into the race in this year and became the instant favorite. He was the political heavyweight who apparently held every edge. The quintessential political insider, he had wed a political dynasty member and worked in a Democratic presidency. He became New York governor in 2011, seventeen years after his parent, Mario Cuomo, left office from the same position.

The progressive, who was elected to the state legislature in recently, does not have the comparable background. But his commitment to providing free buses and free childcare – along with the freeze-the-rent pledge – offer a more positive vision of the city's direction than Cuomo’s dire warnings about “mayhem” and unfettered crime, and his vow to increase police presence.

Campaign Controversies

Nevertheless, Mamdani has encountered difficulties in the final phase, after video emerged appearing to show him suggesting the NYPD and the Israel Defense Forces were connected.

“We have to make clear that when the pressure of the police is on your throat, it’s been influenced by the IDF,” the candidate said in the recording, 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 engaging in atrocities in Gaza, indicated he was criticizing cooperative programs between the NYPD and Israeli forces.

Powerful Moment

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

Mamdani responded to Cuomo’s terrorism comments in an emotional video. In it, Mamdani recalled how, when he first ran for the legislature, a family member advised to him that he did not have to tell people about his Muslim faith. It was a realization, Mamdani said, that many Muslim New Yorkers had been taught “again and again”: “That safety could only be found in the shadows of our city. That it is in those shadows alone where followers of Islam could express their true selves, and that if we were to emerge from those seclusion, then it is in those silence that we must set aside our faith.”

Addressing the actions of his opponents, who has claimed Mamd