🔗 Share this article

Residents of the Big Apple will learn who will be their next mayor this election day, in a race that will decide who governs and defends the nation's largest city at a moment when Donald Trump has vowed to send military troops to the urban center.

In this context, New York has experienced a race for mayor that has matched two very different Democratic figures against each other. The election has become an increasingly bitter face-off, marked by alleged racism and Islamophobia, but it is the ideological divide between the two leading contenders that could have significant consequences for how the Democratic party fares in next year's midterm elections.

The Progressive Challenger

On the left side is the democratic socialist, the young democratic socialist whose meteoric rise and people-powered movement has attracted global notice. On the establishment side is the former governor, the former New York governor now campaigning independently – and benefiting from the backing of wealthy contributors and corporations.

With days to go, it is Mamdani, the former longshot who beat Cuomo in the party primary who is solidly positioned as the frontrunner. The candidate, who has campaigned on a agenda of affordability and pledged to freeze rent for about 2 million New Yorkers, has led his rival by double-digits in every poll taken in the fall, and it is very much the younger man's election to throw away.

A Bitter Contest

Yet, Cuomo, who stepped down as governor in 2021 amid accusations of sexual harassment, has stated clearly he will fight to the end, and not necessarily in an above-the-belt manner. He has trashed Mamdani's goals as unachievable, and in recent days laughed as a broadcaster made Islamophobic remarks about the candidate, who is Muslim. Two weeks ago, the independent was strongly criticized as bigoted after sharing an artificial intelligence video that featured a series of racial caricatures and showed Mamdani freeing a convicts.

It's been a particularly ugly end to an election that could be critical to the direction that the Democratic party, struggling in its reaction to the former president's authoritarian grabs, adopts in the near future.

Broader Consequences

Should Mamdani secures a clear victory, the establishment party leaders who have declined to support his campaign will be compelled to address a platform that has resonated with voters' frustration at economic disparity, inflation and the political elite. It would be hard for the Senate leader and the House leader not to adopt at least some of Mamdani's ambitious ideas about economic justice, given the fresh face has generated an enthusiasm within the party arguably not seen since Bernie Sanders ran for president eight years ago.

Conversely, if the former governor, who had been expected to win easily in the June primary, complete a surprising comeback victory, it could cement national Democrats' current model of cautious, uninspiring opposition – a strategy that has angered the party base. A New York rejection of the progressive's progressive, positive message could persuade party leaders that the best plan is to stick to the center – even as surveys show the present version of the Democratic party is deeply unpopular across the country.

Voter Enthusiasm

Residents of New York seem to prefer the Mamdani vision. Polls show that Mamdani supporters are far more enthusiastic about their choice than his opponent's supporters, something that has been apparent during the race. Mamdani's snappy videos on digital platforms, his optimistic vision for the city and his willingness to actually get out and meet people in the city has drawn an army of more than 50,000 volunteers, many of them young or new participants.

Negative Tactics

Yet, Cuomo, in his late sixties, continues to fight. And with the stakes against him, the ex-leader has resorted to negative campaigning in the final days.

After spending months launching various attacks at his opponent to see what might resonate, Cuomo has concentrated on attacking the candidate directly. He has labelled his rival, who was born in Uganda to Indian parents, an “extremist”, and popped up on Fox Business for an interview with Maria Bartiromo, where the candidate asserted New York “will not survive” Mamdani as city leader. It hit bottom recently, when Cuomo laughed along and said “that’s another problem” after a radio host said Mamdani would “cheer” another terrorist attack.

Campaign Dynamics

This strategy echoes much of what Trump, who has deployed the national guard to the capital and threatened to take similar action to NYC, has said about the progressive, and perhaps that is expected. A group of wealthy residents, including some who contributed to Trump in the 2024 election, have invested heavily into trying to get Cuomo elected, as other influential figures have pressured Curtis Sliwa to drop out from the race.

Candidate Backgrounds

As far as the Cuomo camp, and his wealthy backers, are concerned, it should not have reached to this point. When Mamdani, one of one hundred fifty state legislators, 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, eased his way into the race in March 2025 and became the immediate frontrunner. He was the political heavyweight who apparently held every edge. The quintessential establishment figure, he had married a political dynasty member and served in a Democratic presidency. He became New York governor in 2011, 17 years after his father, Mario Cuomo, left office from the same position.

The progressive, who was elected to the state legislature in 2020, does not have the comparable background. But his commitment to providing free buses and free childcare – along with the rent control promise – 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.

Campaign Controversies

Still, Mamdani has encountered some challenges in recent days, after footage surfaced suggesting him implying the NYPD and the Israel Defense Forces were connected.

“We have to make clear that when the boot of the NYPD is on your throat, it’s been laced by the Israeli military,” the candidate said in the clip, filmed at a DSA convention in 2023. Mamdani, a longtime critic of the Israeli government who has said the country is committing genocide in Gaza, indicated he was questioning joint training exercises between the city police and IDF.

Emotional Response

With the election nearing, the candidate seems to have gained empathy and backing, however, for his response to his opponent's escalating attacks.

The progressive responded to the independent's terrorism comments in an emotional video. In it, the candidate remembered how, when he first ran for the legislature, a family member advised to him that he did not have to tell people about his Muslim faith. It was a realization, Mamdani said, that many Muslim New Yorkers had been taught “again and again”: “That security could only be found in the shadows of our community. That it is in those hidden spaces alone where followers of Islam could express their true selves, and that if we were to step out from those seclusion, then it is in those silence that we must leave our beliefs.”

Addressing the actions of his opponents, who has alleged Mamd