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Residents of the Big Apple will discover who will be their next mayor this election day, in a race that will determine who runs and defends the nation's largest city at a time when Donald Trump has vowed 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 Democrats against one another. The election has become an increasingly bitter face-off, laced with alleged racism and anti-Muslim sentiment, but it is the political differences between the two main contenders that could have significant consequences for how the party fares in next year's congressional races.

The Progressive Challenger

On the left side is Zohran Mamdani, the young progressive candidate whose meteoric rise and people-powered movement has brought international attention. Representing the old guard is the former governor, the ex- Democratic New York governor now campaigning independently – and enjoying the backing of ultra-rich donors and big business.

With days to go, it is Mamdani, the former longshot who beat Cuomo in the party primary who is solidly positioned as the frontrunner. Mamdani, who has campaigned on a platform of affordability and pledged to freeze rent for about two million city residents, has led Cuomo by double-digits in every poll conducted in October, and it is very much the progressive's election to lose.

The Controversial Campaign

However, the former governor, who stepped down as governor in recent years amid allegations of sexual harassment, has made it clear he will fight to the finish, and not necessarily in an fair manner. He has trashed his opponent's goals as unrealistic, and in recent days chuckled along as a radio host made anti-Muslim comments about Mamdani, who is a Muslim. Two weeks ago, Cuomo was widely condemned as racist after posting an artificial intelligence video that featured a series of racial caricatures and showed Mamdani releasing a convicts.

This represents a particularly ugly conclusion to an race that could be critical to the path that the Democratic party, struggling in its response to the former president's authoritarian grabs, takes in the near future.

National Implications

If Mamdani secures a clear victory, the establishment party leaders who have refused to endorse his bid will be forced to reckon with a message that has resonated with Americans' anger at inequality, inflation and the establishment. It would be hard for the Senate leader and the House leader not to embrace at least some of Mamdani's ambitious ideas about economic justice, given the fresh face has created an excitement within the party arguably not witnessed since the Vermont senator ran for president in 2016.

Conversely, if the former governor, who had been predicted to sail to victory in the Democratic primary, achieve a surprising riches-to-rags-to-riches victory, it could cement the party's existing approach of cautious, uninspiring opposition – a tactic that has angered the party base. A New York rejection of the progressive's progressive, positive message could convince party leaders that the best plan is to stick to the political center – even as surveys show the present version of the Democratic party is deeply unpopular nationwide.

Voter Enthusiasm

Voters in the city seem to prefer the Mamdani vision. Polls show that his backers are far more enthusiastic about their choice than Cuomo backers, something that has been apparent during the race. Mamdani's snappy videos on social media, his optimistic vision for New York and his readiness to actually venture out and meet people in the city has attracted an army of more than 50,000 supporters, many of them youth or first-time voters.

Personal Attacks

However, Cuomo, in his late sixties, continues to fight. And with the stakes stacked against him, the former governor has resorted to negative campaigning in recent weeks.

Following extensive launching various attacks at his opponent to see what might stick, the independent has concentrated on attacking the candidate directly. He has labelled Mamdani, who was born in Uganda to South Asian heritage, an "radical", and appeared on Fox Business for an discussion with Maria Bartiromo, where Cuomo asserted New York “will not survive” Mamdani as mayor. It hit bottom last week, when Cuomo chuckled and said “that’s another problem” after a broadcaster said Mamdani would “cheer” another 9/11-style incident.

Political Landscape

The line of attack echoes much of what Trump, who has deployed the military reserves to the capital and threatened to take similar action to NYC, has said about Mamdani, and maybe that is expected. A group of billionaire New Yorkers, including some who contributed to the Republican in the last presidential race, have pumped millions into trying to elect Cuomo elected, as other powerful voices have urged the Republican candidate to withdraw from the contest.

Political Histories

For the Cuomo camp, and his wealthy backers, are concerned, it should not have reached to this. When Mamdani, one of one hundred fifty state legislators, launched his mayoral bid in October 2024, few had heard of him, and in reality, few even paid attention.

Cuomo, by contrast, eased his way into the race in this year 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 worked in a Democratic presidency. He assumed office as the state's leader in over a decade ago, 17 years after his father, the former governor, left office from the same position.

Mamdani, who was elected to the state legislature in 2020, does not have the same political heritage. But his commitment to providing free buses and affordable child services – along with the rent control promise – offer a more positive vision of the city's direction than Cuomo’s dire warnings about “mayhem” and rising criminal activity, and his promise to increase police presence.

Campaign Controversies

Nevertheless, the candidate has encountered difficulties in recent days, after video emerged appearing to show him suggesting the New York police department and the IDF were connected.

“We have to make clear that when the pressure of the police is on your neck, it’s been influenced by the IDF,” Mamdani said in the recording, recorded at a DSA convention 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 cooperative programs between the city police and Israeli forces.

Powerful Moment

As the race closes, Mamdani seems to have gained empathy and backing, however, for his response to Cuomo’s increasing rhetoric.

Mamdani responded to Cuomo’s terrorism comments in an emotional video. In it, Mamdani remembered how, when he first campaigned for state assembly, a Muslim uncle suggested to him that he did not have to tell people about his Muslim faith. It was a realization, he said, that many Muslim New Yorkers had been told “again and again”: “That safety could only be found in the shadows of our community. That it is in those hidden spaces alone where followers of Islam could embrace their full identities, and that if we were to step out from those seclusion, then it is in those shadows that we must leave our faith.”

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