🔗 Share this article

Residents of the Big Apple will learn who will be their next mayor this election day, in a contest that will decide who governs and defends the country's most populous metropolis at a moment when Donald Trump has vowed to send armed forces to the city.

In this context, New York has experienced a mayoral election that has matched two very different Democratic figures against each other. 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 contenders that could have significant consequences for how the Democratic party performs in next year's midterm elections.

The Progressive Challenger

On the left side is the democratic socialist, the 34-year-old progressive candidate whose meteoric rise and people-powered movement has attracted international attention. On the establishment side is Andrew Cuomo, the former Democratic New York governor now running as an independent – and benefiting from the support of wealthy contributors and big business.

With days to go, it is the progressive, the former longshot who defeated his opponent in the Democratic primary who is firmly installed as the frontrunner. The candidate, who has campaigned on a agenda of affordability and promised to freeze rent for about 2 million New Yorkers, has outpaced Cuomo by significant margins across all surveys conducted in October, and it is very much the progressive's race to throw away.

The Controversial Campaign

Yet, Cuomo, who resigned as governor in recent years amid allegations of misconduct, has stated clearly he will battle to the end, and not necessarily in an above-the-belt manner. He has criticized Mamdani's goals as unrealistic, and in the final stretch laughed as a broadcaster made Islamophobic remarks about the candidate, who is Muslim. Two weeks ago, Cuomo was widely condemned as racist after posting an artificial intelligence video that included a slew of racial caricatures and showed Mamdani freeing a convicts.

It's been a rather grubby conclusion to an race that could be key to the path that the Democratic party, struggling in its reaction to Trump's power moves, adopts in the coming years.

National Implications

Should Mamdani wins convincingly, the party establishment who have refused to endorse his campaign will be forced to reckon with a platform that has appealed to Americans' anger at inequality, soaring price rises and the political elite. It would be difficult for Chuck Schumer and the House leader not to adopt at least a portion of the candidate's progressive proposals about affordability, given the fresh face has created an enthusiasm within the party perhaps not seen since the Vermont senator ran for president eight years ago.

However, should the former governor, who had been expected to sail to victory in the June primary, achieve a remarkable comeback win, it could cement national Democrats' current model of considered, uninspiring resistance – a strategy that has angered the party base. A NYC defeat of Mamdani's progressive, positive message could convince Schumer and Jeffries that the wisest course is to remain in the center – even as surveys show the present version of the party is widely disliked across the country.

Voter Enthusiasm

Residents of the city seem to prefer the progressive agenda. Surveys show that Mamdani supporters are much more excited about their candidate than his opponent's supporters, something that has been evident throughout the campaign. 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 attracted an force of more than 50,000 supporters, many of them young or new participants.

Negative Tactics

Yet, the former governor, in his late sixties, continues to fight. And with the stakes stacked against him, the former governor has turned to ugly messaging in the final days.

Following extensive launching various attacks at his opponent to see what might stick, the independent has concentrated on targeting the candidate personally. He has called Mamdani, who was born in Uganda to Indian parents, an "radical", and popped up on conservative media for an interview with Maria Bartiromo, where Cuomo 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 incident.

Campaign Dynamics

This strategy echoes much of what the former president, who has sent the national guard to Washington DC and warned to take similar action to NYC, has said about Mamdani, and perhaps that shouldn’t come as a surprise. A group of billionaire New Yorkers, including some who contributed to Trump in the 2024 election, have pumped millions into trying to get Cuomo into office, as other powerful voices have pressured the Republican candidate to withdraw from the race.

Political Histories

For the Cuomo camp, and his wealthy backers, are worried, it should not have reached to this. When the assemblyman, one of one hundred fifty state legislators, started his campaign for mayor in October 2024, few had heard of him, and in reality, few even noticed.

The former governor, by contrast, eased his way into the race in this year and became the instant favorite. He was the political heavyweight who seemingly held every edge. The classic establishment figure, he had married a political dynasty member and served in Bill Clinton’s administration. He assumed office as the state's leader in 2011, 17 years after his parent, Mario Cuomo, left office from the identical role.

The progressive, who was voted in to the state legislature in recently, does not have the same political heritage. But his dedication to providing no-cost transit and free childcare – along with the rent control promise – offer a more positive vision of the future than his opponent's dire warnings about “mayhem” and unfettered crime, and his promise to hire more police officers.

Recent Challenges

Still, Mamdani has encountered difficulties in recent days, 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 influenced by the Israeli military,” the candidate said in the clip, recorded at a Democratic Socialists of America convention in recent years. Mamdani, a vocal opponent of the Israeli government who has said the nation is engaging in atrocities in Gaza, indicated he was questioning cooperative programs between the NYPD and Israeli forces.

Powerful Moment

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

The progressive addressed Cuomo’s 9/11 remarks in an emotional video. In it, the candidate recalled how, when he first campaigned for state assembly, a Muslim uncle advised to him that he did not have to disclose about his religion. It was a lesson, he said, that many local Muslims had been taught “again and again”: “That safety could only be found in the shadows of our community. That it is in those hidden spaces alone where Muslims could embrace their true selves, and that if we were to emerge from those seclusion, then it is in those shadows that we must set aside our faith.”

Speaking to the actions of his opponents, who has claimed Mamd