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New Yorkers will discover who will be their new city leader this election day, in a contest that will decide who runs and defends the country's most populous metropolis at a moment when Donald Trump has threatened to send armed forces to the urban center.

In this context, New York has experienced a mayoral election that has pitted two very different Democrats against one another. The contest has turned into an increasingly bitter face-off, laced with accusations of racial bias and Islamophobia, but it is the political differences between the two main candidates that could have significant consequences for how the party performs in next year's midterm elections.

The Rising Progressive

On the left side is the democratic socialist, the 34-year-old progressive candidate whose rapid ascent and people-powered movement has brought international attention. Representing the old guard is Andrew Cuomo, the ex- Democratic New York governor now running as an independent – and enjoying the backing of wealthy contributors and big business.

With days to go, it is Mamdani, the one-time underdog who defeated Cuomo in the party primary who is solidly positioned as the leading candidate. Mamdani, who has run on a platform of affordability and promised to halt rent increases for about 2 million city residents, has outpaced Cuomo by double-digits across all surveys taken in the fall, and it is very much the progressive's race to throw away.

A Bitter Contest

However, Cuomo, who resigned as governor in 2021 amid allegations of misconduct, has stated clearly he will battle to the end, and not necessarily in an fair fashion. He has criticized his opponent's objectives as unachievable, and in the final stretch laughed as a radio host made Islamophobic remarks about the candidate, who is a 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 releasing a group of criminals.

This represents a rather grubby end to an election that could be critical to the path that the party, struggling in its response to the former president's authoritarian grabs, adopts in the near future.

National Implications

Should the progressive wins convincingly, the establishment party leaders who have declined to support his campaign will be forced to reckon with a platform that has appealed to Americans' anger at economic disparity, inflation and the establishment. It would be difficult for the Senate leader and Hakeem Jeffries 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 perhaps not witnessed since the Vermont senator ran for president in 2016.

Conversely, should the former governor, who had been expected to win easily in the June primary, achieve a surprising comeback win, it could cement national Democrats' existing approach of cautious, uninspiring opposition – a tactic that has angered grassroots members. A NYC rejection of Mamdani's optimistic platform could convince Schumer and Jeffries that the wisest course is to stick to the political center – even as polls show the current iteration of the party is widely disliked nationwide.

Voter Enthusiasm

Residents of New York seem to prefer the Mamdani vision. Surveys show that his backers are far more enthusiastic about their choice than Cuomo backers, something that has been apparent throughout the campaign. The candidate's snappy videos on digital platforms, his hopeful outlook for the city and his willingness to actually get 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

Yet, the former governor, in his late sixties, continues to fight. And with the risks against him, the ex-leader has resorted to negative campaigning in recent weeks.

Following extensive throwing basically everything at his opponent to see what might resonate, Cuomo has narrowed his focus on attacking Mamdani personally. He has labelled his rival, who was born in Uganda to South Asian heritage, an “extremist”, and popped up on Fox Business for an interview with a rightwing host, where Cuomo claimed the city “will not survive” his opponent as mayor. It hit bottom recently, when the former governor chuckled and said “that’s another problem” after a broadcaster said the candidate would “cheer” another 9/11-style incident.

Political Landscape

This strategy echoes much of what the former president, who has deployed the national guard to Washington DC and warned to do the same to NYC, has said about Mamdani, and maybe that shouldn’t come as a surprise. A group of billionaire New Yorkers, including some who contributed to Trump in the 2024 election, have invested heavily into trying to get the independent elected, as other powerful voices have urged Curtis Sliwa to withdraw from the race.

Candidate Backgrounds

For the his team, and his wealthy backers, are concerned, it should never have come to this. When Mamdani, one of one hundred fifty New York state assembly members, launched his campaign for mayor in October 2024, few had known him, and in truth, few even paid attention.

The former governor, by contrast, eased his way into the race in March 2025 and became the immediate frontrunner. He was the big beast who seemingly held all the advantages. The quintessential political insider, he had married a Kennedy and served in Bill Clinton’s administration. He assumed office as New York governor in over a decade ago, 17 years after his father, Mario Cuomo, stepped down from the same position.

The progressive, who was voted in to the state legislature in 2020, does not have the comparable background. But his dedication to providing free buses and free childcare – along with the freeze-the-rent pledge – present a more positive vision of the city's direction than Cuomo’s pessimistic predictions about “mayhem” and rising criminal activity, and his promise to increase police presence.

Recent Challenges

Nevertheless, the candidate has faced some challenges in the final phase, after video emerged suggesting him suggesting the NYPD and the Israel Defense Forces were connected.

“We have to make clear that when the boot of the police is on your throat, it’s been influenced by the IDF,” the candidate said in the recording, recorded at a Democratic Socialists of America gathering in recent years. The progressive, a vocal opponent of the Israeli government who has said the country is committing genocide in the Palestinian territory, suggested he was questioning cooperative programs between the NYPD and IDF.

Emotional Response

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

Mamdani responded to the independent's terrorism comments in an emotional video. In it, the candidate recalled how, when he first campaigned for the legislature, a Muslim uncle suggested to him that he did not have to disclose about his religion. It was a realization, Mamdani said, that many Muslim New Yorkers had been told “again and again”: “That security could only be found in the shadows of our city. That it is in those shadows alone where Muslims could express their full identities, and that if we were to emerge from those shadows, then it is in those shadows that we must set aside our faith.”

Addressing the behavior of Cuomo and Sliwa, who has alleged Mamd