🔗 Share this article

Residents of the Big Apple will find out who will be their next mayor this election day, in a race that will determine who governs and defends the nation's largest city at a time 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 matched two distinctly opposing Democrats against each other. The contest has turned into an acrimonious showdown, marked by accusations of racism and anti-Muslim sentiment, but it is the political differences between the two leading contenders 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 the democratic socialist, the 34-year-old democratic socialist whose meteoric rise and grassroots campaign has brought global notice. Representing the old guard is Andrew Cuomo, the former Democratic New York governor now running as an independent – and benefiting from the backing of ultra-rich donors and big business.

With days to go, it is the progressive, the former longshot who beat Cuomo in the Democratic primary who is solidly positioned as the frontrunner. The candidate, who has run on a agenda of affordability and pledged to freeze rent for about 2 million city residents, has led his rival by double-digits across all surveys taken in the fall, and it is very much the progressive's race to lose.

A Bitter Contest

However, Cuomo, who resigned as the state's leader in recent years amid accusations of misconduct, has made it clear he will battle to the finish, and not necessarily in an fair fashion. He has trashed his opponent's goals as unrealistic, and in the final stretch laughed as a broadcaster made anti-Muslim comments about the candidate, who is a Muslim. Two weeks ago, Cuomo was widely condemned as racist after posting an AI-generated ad that included a series of racial caricatures and showed his opponent freeing a convicts.

It's been a rather grubby end to an race that could be critical to the path that the Democratic party, struggling in its response to the former president's power moves, adopts in the coming years.

Broader Consequences

Should Mamdani secures a clear victory, the party establishment who have declined to support his bid will be forced to reckon with a platform that has resonated with Americans' anger at inequality, inflation and the establishment. It would be hard for Chuck Schumer and Hakeem Jeffries not to adopt at least some of Mamdani's ambitious ideas about affordability, given the fresh face has generated an enthusiasm within the Democratic ranks perhaps not seen since Bernie Sanders campaigned for the White House in 2016.

Conversely, if Cuomo, who had been expected to win easily in the Democratic primary, achieve a surprising riches-to-rags-to-riches victory, it could reinforce the party's current model of considered, lackluster opposition – a tactic that has angered the party base. A NYC defeat of Mamdani's progressive, positive message could convince party leaders that the wisest course is to remain in the center – even as polls show the present version of the party is widely disliked nationwide.

Voter Enthusiasm

Residents of New York seem to prefer the progressive agenda. Polls show that Mamdani supporters are much more excited about their choice than Cuomo backers, something that has been evident throughout the campaign. The candidate's engaging content on digital platforms, his hopeful outlook for New York and his readiness to actually get out and connect with voters in the city has attracted an army of over fifty thousand supporters, many of them youth or new participants.

Personal Attacks

Yet, the former governor, in his late sixties, isn't giving up. And with the risks against him, the ex-leader has resorted to ugly messaging in recent weeks.

Following extensive launching various attacks at his opponent to see what might resonate, Cuomo has narrowed his focus on attacking the candidate directly. He has called his rival, who was born in Uganda to Indian parents, an “extremist”, and popped up on Fox Business for an interview with a rightwing host, where the candidate asserted New York “will not survive” his opponent as mayor. 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 incident.

Political Landscape

This strategy mirrors much of what the former president, who has sent the national guard to Washington DC and threatened to do the same to New York, has said about Mamdani, and perhaps that shouldn’t come as a surprise. A group of billionaire New Yorkers, including some who contributed to the Republican in the 2024 election, have pumped millions into trying to elect the independent into office, as other influential figures have pressured Curtis Sliwa to drop out from the race.

Political Histories

For the his team, and his wealthy backers, are concerned, it should not have reached to this point. When the assemblyman, one of one hundred fifty state legislators, started his mayoral bid in October 2024, not many had heard of him, and in truth, few even paid attention.

Cuomo, by contrast, entered smoothly into the race in March 2025 and became the instant favorite. He was the big beast who seemingly held all the advantages. The classic establishment figure, he had married a Kennedy and served in Bill Clinton’s administration. He became New York governor in over a decade ago, 17 years after his parent, the former governor, 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 Cuomo’s dire warnings about “mayhem” and rising criminal activity, and his vow to hire more police officers.

Recent Challenges

Nevertheless, Mamdani has faced some challenges in recent days, after footage emerged appearing to show him implying the New York police department and the IDF were connected.

“We have to make clear that when the boot of the police is on your neck, it’s been laced by the IDF,” the candidate said in the recording, recorded at a Democratic Socialists of America convention in 2023. Mamdani, a longtime critic of the Israeli government who has said the country is engaging in atrocities in the Palestinian territory, indicated he was criticizing cooperative programs between the city police and Israeli forces.

Powerful Moment

With the election nearing, the candidate appears to have won sympathy and support, however, for his response to Cuomo’s increasing rhetoric.

Mamdani addressed the independent's 9/11 remarks in an heartfelt recording. In it, Mamdani remembered how, when he first campaigned for the legislature, a family member advised to him that he did not have to disclose about his Muslim faith. 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 margins of our city. That it is in those shadows alone where Muslims could express their true selves, and that if we were to emerge from those shadows, then it is in those silence that we must leave our beliefs.”

Addressing the actions of his opponents, who has alleged Mamd