🔗 Share this article

New Yorkers will learn the identity of their next mayor this election day, in a race that will decide who governs and protects the country's most populous metropolis at a moment when Donald Trump has threatened to send military troops to the urban center.

In this context, New York has witnessed a race for mayor that has pitted two distinctly opposing Democratic figures against each other. The election has become an increasingly bitter face-off, laced with accusations of racism and anti-Muslim sentiment, but it is the political differences between the two leading contenders that could have significant consequences for how the party performs in next year's congressional races.

The Rising Progressive

In the progressive corner is the democratic socialist, the young progressive candidate whose rapid ascent and grassroots campaign has brought global notice. Representing the old guard is Andrew Cuomo, the former New York governor now running as an independent – and benefiting from the support of ultra-rich donors and corporations.

As the election approaches, it is Mamdani, the former longshot who beat Cuomo in the Democratic primary who is firmly installed as the frontrunner. Mamdani, who has campaigned on a agenda of affordability and promised to freeze rent for about two million city residents, has outpaced Cuomo by double-digits across all surveys taken in October, and it is very much the progressive's race to throw away.

A Bitter Contest

However, Cuomo, who resigned as the state's leader in 2021 amid accusations of misconduct, has made it clear he will battle to the end, and not necessarily in an above-the-belt manner. He has trashed Mamdani's goals as unrealistic, and in recent days chuckled along as a radio host made Islamophobic remarks about Mamdani, who is Muslim. Two weeks ago, the independent was strongly criticized as racist after sharing an AI-generated ad that included a slew of racial caricatures and showed his opponent freeing a group of criminals.

This represents a particularly ugly end to an election that could be critical to the path that the party, struggling in its reaction to the former president's authoritarian grabs, takes in the coming years.

National Implications

If Mamdani secures a clear victory, the party establishment who have refused to endorse his bid will be forced to reckon with a platform that has resonated with voters' anger at economic disparity, soaring price rises and the political elite. It would be hard for the Senate leader and the House leader not to embrace at least a portion of Mamdani's ambitious ideas about economic justice, given the fresh face has generated an enthusiasm within the Democratic ranks arguably not seen since the Vermont senator ran for president eight years ago.

However, should Cuomo, who had been predicted to win easily in the Democratic primary, complete a remarkable comeback win, it could reinforce the party's existing approach of considered, uninspiring resistance – a tactic that has angered grassroots members. A NYC defeat of the progressive's progressive, positive message could convince party leaders that the wisest course is to stick to the center – even as polls show the current iteration of the Democratic party is deeply unpopular across the country.

Campaign Energy

Residents of New York seem to prefer the Mamdani vision. Polls show that Mamdani supporters are much more excited about their candidate than Cuomo backers, something that has been evident throughout the campaign. The candidate's snappy videos on digital platforms, his hopeful outlook for the city and his willingness to actually venture out and connect with voters 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, continues to fight. And with the stakes stacked against him, the former governor has turned to negative campaigning in recent weeks.

Following extensive launching various attacks at Mamdani to see what might stick, the independent has concentrated on targeting Mamdani personally. He has called Mamdani, who was born in Uganda to Indian parents, an “extremist”, and appeared on conservative media for an interview with Maria Bartiromo, where Cuomo claimed New York “will not survive” his opponent as mayor. It reached a nadir recently, when the former governor chuckled and said “that’s another problem” after a broadcaster said Mamdani would “cheer” another terrorist incident.

Political Landscape

The line of attack echoes much of what Trump, who has sent the military reserves to the capital and threatened to take similar action to NYC, has said about the progressive, and maybe that shouldn’t come as a surprise. A set of wealthy residents, including some who donated to the Republican in the 2024 election, have invested heavily into trying to get Cuomo into office, as other influential figures have pressured the Republican candidate to drop out from the race.

Political Histories

As far as the his team, and his billionaire supporters, are worried, it should never have come to this point. When the assemblyman, one of 150 state legislators, launched his mayoral bid in last year, few had heard of him, and in reality, few even paid attention.

Cuomo, by comparison, eased his way into the race in this year and became the instant favorite. He was the political heavyweight who seemingly held all the advantages. The classic establishment figure, he had married a Kennedy and worked in a Democratic presidency. He became New York governor in 2011, 17 years after his father, the former governor, stepped down from the same position.

The progressive, who was elected to the New York state assembly in recently, does not have the comparable background. But his commitment to providing no-cost transit and free childcare – along with the freeze-the-rent pledge – offer a more positive vision of the future than his opponent's dire warnings about “mayhem” and rising criminal activity, and his vow to increase police presence.

Recent Challenges

Still, the candidate has encountered some challenges in recent days, after footage surfaced suggesting him suggesting the NYPD 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,” Mamdani said in the recording, filmed at a DSA convention in recent years. The progressive, a longtime critic of Israel who has said the country is committing genocide in the Palestinian territory, indicated he was criticizing joint training exercises between the city police and IDF.

Powerful Moment

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

Mamdani addressed the independent's 9/11 remarks in an heartfelt recording. In it, the candidate remembered how, when he first campaigned for state assembly, a family member advised to him that he did not have to tell people about his religion. It was a lesson, Mamdani said, that many Muslim New Yorkers had been taught “again and again”: “That safety could only be found in the shadows of our community. 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 silence that we must leave our faith.”

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