🔗 Share this article

Residents of the Big Apple will learn who will be their new city leader this Tuesday, in a contest that will decide who runs and defends the nation's most populous metropolis at a moment when Donald Trump has vowed to send military troops to the city.

Against that backdrop, New York has experienced a mayoral election that has pitted two distinctly opposing Democrats against one another. The contest has become an increasingly bitter showdown, marked by alleged racism and anti-Muslim sentiment, but it is the ideological divide between the two main contenders that could have significant consequences for how the Democratic party performs in next year's congressional races.

The Rising Progressive

On the left side is Zohran Mamdani, the 34-year-old progressive candidate whose rapid ascent and people-powered movement has brought global notice. Representing the old guard is the former governor, the former Democratic New York governor now campaigning independently – and benefiting from the backing of wealthy contributors and big business.

As the election approaches, it is Mamdani, the one-time underdog who defeated his opponent in the Democratic primary who is solidly positioned as the leading candidate. The candidate, who has campaigned on a agenda of economic justice and promised to freeze rent for about two million city residents, has led Cuomo by significant margins in every poll conducted in the fall, and it is very much the younger man's race to throw away.

The Controversial Campaign

Yet, the former governor, who stepped down as the state's leader in recent years amid accusations of misconduct, has stated clearly he will battle to the end, and not necessarily in an fair manner. He has criticized his opponent's objectives as unrealistic, and in the final stretch laughed as a radio host made Islamophobic remarks about the candidate, who is Muslim. Recently, the independent was widely condemned as bigoted after sharing an AI-generated ad that included a series of racial caricatures and showed his opponent freeing a convicts.

It's been a particularly ugly end to an election that could be critical to the path that the Democratic party, struggling in its reaction to the former president's power moves, takes in the coming years.

National Implications

If Mamdani secures a clear victory, the party establishment who have refused to endorse his campaign will be forced to reckon with a message that has appealed to Americans' frustration at economic disparity, inflation and the political elite. It would be hard for Chuck Schumer and the House leader not to embrace at least some of the candidate's progressive proposals about affordability, given the newcomer has generated an enthusiasm within the Democratic ranks arguably not seen since Bernie Sanders ran for president eight years ago.

Conversely, if Cuomo, who had been predicted to sail to victory in the June primary, achieve a remarkable comeback victory, it could cement the party's current model of considered, lackluster resistance – a strategy that has infuriated the party base. A NYC defeat of the progressive's optimistic platform could persuade party leaders that the best plan is to stick to the political center – even as surveys show the current iteration of the party is widely disliked across the country.

Campaign Energy

Residents of New York seem to prefer the Mamdani vision. 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 engaging content on digital platforms, his hopeful outlook for New York and his readiness to actually venture out and meet people in the city has attracted an army of over fifty thousand volunteers, many of them young or new participants.

Negative Tactics

However, the former governor, 67, isn't giving up. And with the stakes against him, the ex-leader has turned to ugly messaging in the final days.

After spending months launching various attacks at his opponent to see what might stick, the independent has narrowed his focus on targeting Mamdani directly. He has labelled Mamdani, who was born in Uganda to Indian parents, an “extremist”, and appeared on conservative media for an interview with a rightwing host, where the candidate asserted New York “will not survive” Mamdani as city leader. It hit bottom recently, when the former governor laughed along and said “that’s another problem” after a radio host said the candidate would “cheer” another 9/11-style incident.

Political Landscape

The line of attack mirrors much of what Trump, who has deployed the national guard to Washington DC and warned to take similar action to New York, has said about the progressive, and maybe that shouldn’t come as a surprise. A group of wealthy residents, including some who contributed to Trump in the 2024 election, have pumped millions into trying to elect Cuomo into office, as other powerful voices have urged Curtis Sliwa to withdraw from the race.

Political Histories

For the Cuomo camp, and his billionaire supporters, are concerned, it should never have come to this point. When the assemblyman, one of one hundred fifty state legislators, launched his campaign for mayor in October 2024, not many had known him, and in reality, few even paid attention.

The former governor, by comparison, entered smoothly into the race in this year and became the immediate frontrunner. He was the big beast who seemingly held every edge. The classic political insider, he had wed a Kennedy and served in Bill Clinton’s administration. He became New York governor in 2011, 17 years after his parent, the former governor, stepped down from the identical role.

The progressive, who was elected to the state legislature in 2020, does not have the same political heritage. But his commitment to providing free buses and free childcare – along with the rent control promise – offer a more positive vision of the future 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 difficulties in recent days, after video surfaced suggesting him implying the NYPD and the IDF were intertwined.

“We have to make clear that when the pressure of the NYPD is on your neck, it’s been laced by the IDF,” the candidate said in the clip, recorded at a DSA convention in 2023. Mamdani, 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 IDF.

Powerful Moment

As the race closes, Mamdani appears to have won empathy and backing, however, for his reaction to Cuomo’s escalating attacks.

The progressive addressed Cuomo’s terrorism comments in an emotional video. In it, the candidate remembered how, when he first campaigned for the legislature, a Muslim uncle advised to him that he did not have to disclose about his religion. It was a realization, he said, that many Muslim New Yorkers had been taught “again and again”: “That security could only be found in the margins of our city. That it is in those shadows 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 set aside our beliefs.”

Addressing the actions of his opponents, who has claimed Mamd