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Residents of the Big Apple will learn the identity of their next mayor this Tuesday, in a contest that will decide who runs and protects the nation's largest city at a moment when Donald Trump has vowed to deploy armed forces to the city.

Against that backdrop, New York has experienced a mayoral election that has pitted two distinctly opposing Democrats against each other. The contest has become an acrimonious face-off, marked by accusations of racial bias and Islamophobia, but it is the political differences between the two main contenders that could have significant consequences for how the Democratic party fares in next year's midterm elections.

The Rising Progressive

On the left side is Zohran Mamdani, the 34-year-old democratic socialist whose meteoric rise and grassroots campaign has brought international attention. Representing the old guard is Andrew Cuomo, the former New York governor now running as an independent – and enjoying the backing of wealthy contributors and big business.

As the election approaches, it is the progressive, the one-time underdog who beat his opponent in the party primary who is firmly installed as the leading candidate. The candidate, who has run on a platform of economic justice and promised to halt rent increases for about 2 million city residents, has outpaced Cuomo by double-digits in every poll taken in October, and it is very much the younger man's election to throw away.

A Bitter Contest

Yet, Cuomo, who resigned as governor in 2021 amid allegations of misconduct, has stated clearly he will fight to the finish, and not necessarily in an above-the-belt fashion. He has criticized his opponent's objectives as unachievable, and in the final stretch chuckled along as a broadcaster made Islamophobic remarks about the candidate, who is a Muslim. Recently, the independent was strongly criticized as bigoted after posting an AI-generated ad that featured a series of racist stereotypes and showed his opponent releasing a convicts.

It's been a particularly ugly end to an election that could be critical to the direction that the Democratic party, floundering in its response to the former president's power moves, adopts in the coming years.

National Implications

If the progressive secures a clear victory, the establishment party leaders who have refused to endorse his bid will be compelled to address a message that has appealed to voters' frustration at economic disparity, inflation and the political elite. It would be hard for Chuck Schumer and the House leader not to adopt at least a portion of the candidate's progressive proposals about affordability, given the newcomer has generated an excitement within the Democratic ranks arguably not witnessed since the Vermont senator campaigned for the White House eight years ago.

Conversely, if the former governor, who had been predicted to win easily in the Democratic primary, achieve a surprising comeback victory, it could reinforce national Democrats' existing approach of cautious, lackluster opposition – a strategy that has angered grassroots members. A New York defeat of Mamdani's optimistic platform could convince Schumer and Jeffries that the wisest course is to stick to the political center – even as surveys show the current iteration of the party is deeply unpopular across the country.

Campaign Energy

Residents of the city appear to favor the progressive agenda. Polls show that Mamdani supporters are far more enthusiastic about their choice than Cuomo backers, something that has been apparent during the race. The candidate's snappy videos on digital platforms, his hopeful outlook for New York and his willingness to actually get out and meet people in the metropolis has drawn an army of more than 50,000 volunteers, many of them young or first-time voters.

Personal Attacks

However, Cuomo, 67, continues to fight. And with the stakes stacked against him, the former governor has resorted to ugly messaging in the final days.

Following extensive throwing basically everything at Mamdani to see what might resonate, Cuomo has concentrated on targeting the candidate directly. He has labelled Mamdani, who was of Ugandan origin to Indian parents, an “extremist”, and appeared on conservative media for an interview with a rightwing host, where the candidate asserted the city “will not survive” Mamdani as city leader. It reached a nadir last week, when the former governor laughed along and said “that’s another problem” after a broadcaster said Mamdani would “cheer” another terrorist incident.

Political Landscape

This strategy echoes much of what the former president, who has deployed the national guard to the capital and threatened to do the same to NYC, has said about the progressive, and maybe that is expected. A group of wealthy residents, including some who contributed to the Republican in the last presidential race, have invested heavily into trying to elect Cuomo elected, as other powerful voices have pressured the Republican candidate to withdraw from the contest.

Candidate Backgrounds

For the Cuomo camp, and his wealthy backers, are concerned, it should not have reached to this. When the assemblyman, one of 150 New York state assembly members, launched his campaign for mayor in last year, few had known him, and in reality, few even paid attention.

The former governor, by comparison, entered smoothly into the contest in March 2025 and became the instant favorite. He was the political heavyweight who seemingly held all the advantages. The quintessential establishment figure, he had wed a Kennedy and served in a Democratic presidency. He assumed office as New York governor in over a decade ago, 17 years after his father, the former governor, stepped down from the same position.

The progressive, who was voted in to the New York state assembly in recently, does not have the comparable background. But his dedication to providing no-cost transit and affordable child services – along with the rent control promise – present a brighter outlook of the future than his opponent's pessimistic predictions about “mayhem” and unfettered crime, and his vow to increase police presence.

Recent Challenges

Still, the candidate has encountered difficulties in recent days, after video surfaced appearing to show him suggesting the NYPD and the Israel Defense Forces were intertwined.

“We have to make clear that when the pressure of the police is on your throat, it’s been influenced by the IDF,” the candidate said in the recording, recorded at a DSA convention in 2023. Mamdani, a vocal opponent of Israel who has said the nation is committing genocide in Gaza, indicated he was criticizing joint training exercises between the NYPD and Israeli forces.

Powerful Moment

As the race closes, the candidate appears to have won sympathy and support, however, for his response to his opponent's escalating attacks.

The progressive responded to Cuomo’s terrorism comments in an heartfelt recording. In it, the candidate remembered how, when he first ran for state assembly, a Muslim uncle 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 told “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 embrace their true selves, and that if we were to emerge from those seclusion, then it is in those silence that we must leave our beliefs.”

Speaking to the behavior of his opponents, who has alleged Mamd