🔗 Share this article

Residents of the Big Apple will discover who will be their next mayor this election day, in a contest that will determine who governs and defends the nation's largest city at a moment when Donald Trump has vowed to send armed forces to the city.

Against that backdrop, New York has witnessed a race for mayor that has matched two distinctly opposing Democrats against one another. The election has turned into an acrimonious face-off, laced with alleged racism and Islamophobia, but it is the ideological divide between the two leading candidates that could have major implications for how the Democratic party fares in next year's midterm elections.

The Progressive Challenger

In the progressive corner is the democratic socialist, the young democratic socialist whose meteoric rise and people-powered movement has brought global notice. Representing the old guard is the former governor, the former New York governor now campaigning independently – and enjoying the backing of wealthy contributors and big business.

With days to go, it is Mamdani, 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 economic justice and promised to halt rent increases for about two million New Yorkers, has outpaced Cuomo by double-digits across all surveys conducted in October, and it is very much the younger man's race to throw away.

A Bitter Contest

However, Cuomo, who stepped down as the state's leader in 2021 amid allegations of misconduct, has made it clear he will battle to the finish, and not necessarily in an above-the-belt fashion. He has trashed his opponent's objectives as unachievable, and in recent days laughed as a radio host made anti-Muslim comments about Mamdani, who is a Muslim. Two weeks ago, Cuomo was widely condemned as bigoted after sharing an AI-generated ad that featured a slew of racist stereotypes and showed Mamdani freeing a group of criminals.

It's been a particularly ugly conclusion to an election that could be critical to the path that the Democratic party, struggling in its response to the former president's power moves, takes in the near future.

Broader Consequences

Should the progressive wins convincingly, the establishment party leaders who have declined to support his campaign will be forced to reckon with a message that has resonated with Americans' frustration at inequality, inflation and the political elite. It would be difficult for the Senate leader and Hakeem Jeffries not to embrace at least a portion of Mamdani's ambitious ideas about economic justice, given the newcomer has generated an enthusiasm within the Democratic ranks arguably not witnessed since Bernie Sanders campaigned for the White House in 2016.

However, if Cuomo, who had been predicted to sail to victory in the Democratic primary, achieve a remarkable riches-to-rags-to-riches victory, it could reinforce national Democrats' current model of considered, uninspiring opposition – a strategy that has angered grassroots members. A NYC defeat of the progressive's optimistic platform could persuade party leaders that the wisest course is to remain in the center – even as surveys show the current iteration of the party is deeply unpopular nationwide.

Campaign Energy

Voters in New York seem to prefer the Mamdani vision. Surveys show that his backers are far more enthusiastic about their choice than his opponent's supporters, something that has been apparent throughout the campaign. The candidate's snappy videos on social media, his optimistic vision for the city and his willingness to actually get out and meet people in the metropolis has attracted an army of over fifty thousand volunteers, many of them youth or first-time voters.

Negative Tactics

Yet, the former governor, 67, continues to fight. And with the stakes against him, the former governor has turned to ugly messaging in the final days.

After spending months throwing basically everything at Mamdani to see what might resonate, the independent has narrowed his focus on targeting Mamdani directly. He has labelled Mamdani, who was of Ugandan origin to Indian parents, an “extremist”, and popped up on Fox Business for an discussion with a rightwing host, where the candidate claimed New York “will not survive” his opponent as city leader. It reached a nadir last week, when Cuomo laughed along and said “that’s another problem” after a radio host said Mamdani would “cheer” another terrorist incident.

Political Landscape

The line of attack mirrors much of what Trump, who has sent the military reserves to Washington DC and warned to do the same to New York, has said about Mamdani, and maybe that shouldn’t come as a surprise. A group of billionaire New Yorkers, including some who contributed to Trump in the last presidential race, have pumped millions into trying to get Cuomo elected, as other influential figures have pressured the Republican candidate to withdraw from the contest.

Candidate Backgrounds

For the his team, and his wealthy backers, are worried, it should not have reached to this point. When Mamdani, one of 150 New York state assembly members, started his mayoral bid in last year, few had known him, and in truth, barely anyone even noticed.

Cuomo, by comparison, eased his way into the race in March 2025 and became the instant favorite. He was the political heavyweight who seemingly held every edge. The quintessential political insider, he had wed a political dynasty member and served in a Democratic presidency. He assumed office as the state's leader in 2011, seventeen years after his parent, the former governor, stepped down from the same position.

The progressive, who was elected to the state legislature in 2020, does not have the comparable background. But his dedication 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 dire warnings about “mayhem” and rising criminal activity, and his promise to increase police presence.

Campaign Controversies

Still, Mamdani has encountered difficulties in the final phase, after video emerged suggesting him suggesting the NYPD and the Israel Defense Forces were connected.

“We have to make clear that when the boot of the police is on your neck, it’s been influenced by the IDF,” the candidate said in the clip, recorded at a Democratic Socialists of America convention in recent years. Mamdani, a longtime critic of the Israeli government who has said the nation is committing genocide in the Palestinian territory, suggested he was criticizing joint training exercises between the city police and IDF.

Powerful Moment

As the race closes, the candidate seems to have gained sympathy and support, however, for his reaction to Cuomo’s increasing rhetoric.

The progressive responded to Cuomo’s 9/11 remarks in an heartfelt recording. In it, the candidate remembered how, when he first campaigned for the legislature, a family member advised to him that he did not have to tell people about his religion. It was a lesson, Mamdani said, that many local Muslims had been taught “again and again”: “That security could only be found in the margins of our community. That it is in those hidden spaces 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 faith.”

Addressing the behavior of his opponents, who has claimed Mamd