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Residents of the Big Apple will learn who will be their next mayor this Tuesday, in a contest that will decide who runs and defends the country's most populous metropolis at a moment when the former president has vowed to deploy armed forces to the urban center.

In this context, New York has experienced a mayoral election that has pitted two distinctly opposing Democrats against each other. The contest has turned into an increasingly bitter showdown, laced with accusations of racism and anti-Muslim sentiment, but it is the ideological divide between the two main candidates that could have major implications for how the Democratic party performs in next year's congressional races.

The Rising Progressive

In the progressive corner is Zohran Mamdani, the young progressive candidate whose meteoric rise and grassroots campaign has attracted global notice. Representing the old guard is Andrew Cuomo, the ex- Democratic New York governor now campaigning independently – and benefiting from the backing of wealthy contributors and corporations.

With days to go, it is Mamdani, the one-time underdog who defeated Cuomo in the Democratic primary who is solidly positioned as the frontrunner. Mamdani, who has run on a agenda of economic justice and pledged to halt rent increases for about two million New Yorkers, has outpaced Cuomo by significant margins across all surveys conducted in the fall, and it is very much the younger man's race to lose.

A Bitter Contest

However, Cuomo, who resigned as the state's leader in recent years amid allegations of misconduct, has stated clearly he will battle to the finish, and not necessarily in an above-the-belt manner. He has criticized Mamdani's goals as unachievable, and in the final stretch chuckled along as a radio host made Islamophobic remarks about Mamdani, who is Muslim. Two weeks ago, Cuomo was widely condemned as racist after sharing an artificial intelligence video that featured a slew of racist stereotypes and showed Mamdani releasing a convicts.

This represents a particularly ugly end to an election that could be critical to the direction that the party, struggling in its response to Trump's authoritarian grabs, adopts in the near future.

Broader Consequences

Should Mamdani wins convincingly, the party establishment who have declined to support his campaign will be compelled to address a platform that has appealed to voters' anger at economic disparity, inflation and the political elite. It would be difficult for Chuck Schumer and Hakeem Jeffries not to adopt at least some of the candidate's ambitious ideas about economic justice, given the newcomer has generated an enthusiasm within the Democratic ranks arguably not seen since Bernie Sanders campaigned for the White House in 2016.

Conversely, should the former governor, who had been predicted to win easily in the Democratic primary, achieve a surprising riches-to-rags-to-riches victory, it could cement national Democrats' existing approach of considered, uninspiring resistance – a tactic that has angered grassroots members. A NYC rejection of Mamdani's progressive, positive message could persuade Schumer and Jeffries that the wisest course is to stick to the center – even as polls show the current iteration of the party is widely disliked nationwide.

Voter Enthusiasm

Residents of New York appear to favor the progressive agenda. Polls show that his backers are much more excited about their candidate than Cuomo backers, something that has been evident throughout the campaign. The candidate's engaging content on social media, his optimistic vision for the city and his willingness to actually get out and connect with voters in the city has drawn an army of over fifty thousand supporters, many of them young or new participants.

Personal Attacks

Yet, the former governor, 67, isn't giving up. And with the stakes stacked against him, the ex-leader has turned to negative campaigning in recent weeks.

Following extensive throwing basically everything at Mamdani to see what might resonate, the independent has narrowed his focus on targeting Mamdani personally. He has called his rival, who was born in Uganda to South Asian heritage, an "radical", and appeared on Fox Business for an interview with a rightwing host, where Cuomo claimed the city “will not survive” his opponent as city leader. It hit bottom recently, when the former governor laughed along and said “that’s another problem” after a radio host said Mamdani would “cheer” another terrorist incident.

Political Landscape

The line of attack echoes much of what the former president, who has sent the military reserves to Washington DC and warned to do the same to New York, has said about Mamdani, and perhaps that shouldn’t come as a surprise. A set of wealthy residents, including some who contributed to the Republican in the last presidential race, have pumped millions into trying to get the independent elected, as other influential figures have pressured Curtis Sliwa to withdraw from the race.

Candidate Backgrounds

For the his team, and his billionaire supporters, are concerned, it should never have come to this. When Mamdani, one of 150 New York state assembly members, launched his campaign for mayor in October 2024, not many had heard of him, and in truth, few even noticed.

The former governor, by comparison, entered smoothly into the race in March 2025 and became the immediate frontrunner. He was the political heavyweight who apparently held all the advantages. The quintessential political insider, he had wed a Kennedy and worked in Bill Clinton’s administration. He assumed office as the state's leader in 2011, seventeen years after his father, Mario Cuomo, stepped down from the identical role.

Mamdani, who was voted in to the New York state assembly in recently, does not have the same political heritage. But his commitment 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 hire more police officers.

Recent Challenges

Nevertheless, Mamdani has encountered some challenges in the final phase, after footage 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 NYPD is on your throat, it’s been laced by the IDF,” the candidate said in the recording, filmed at a Democratic Socialists of America gathering in recent years. The progressive, a vocal opponent of the Israeli government who has said the nation is committing genocide in the Palestinian territory, indicated he was questioning joint training exercises between the city police and IDF.

Emotional Response

As the race closes, Mamdani seems to have gained empathy and backing, however, for his response to his opponent's escalating attacks.

The progressive responded to the independent's 9/11 remarks in an heartfelt recording. In it, Mamdani remembered how, when he first ran for the legislature, a family member suggested 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 security could only be found in the margins of our community. That it is in those hidden spaces alone where Muslims could embrace their true selves, and that if we were to step out from those shadows, then it is in those silence that we must leave our beliefs.”

Speaking to the behavior of Cuomo and Sliwa, who has alleged Mamd