🔗 Share this article

Residents of the Big Apple will find out who will be their next mayor this election day, in a race that will decide who runs and defends the nation's largest city at a time when Donald Trump has vowed to deploy armed forces to the city.

Against that backdrop, New York has experienced a mayoral election that has matched two distinctly opposing Democratic figures against one another. The contest has turned into an acrimonious showdown, laced with accusations of racial bias and anti-Muslim sentiment, but it is the political differences between the two main contenders that could have major implications for how the Democratic party fares in next year's congressional races.

The Rising Progressive

On the left side is the democratic socialist, the 34-year-old progressive candidate whose meteoric rise and grassroots campaign has brought international attention. Representing the old guard is the former governor, the former New York governor now running as an independent – and enjoying the backing of ultra-rich donors and corporations.

As the election approaches, it is the progressive, the one-time underdog who defeated Cuomo in the party primary who is solidly positioned as the frontrunner. The candidate, who has run on a agenda of affordability and pledged to freeze rent for about 2 million city residents, has outpaced Cuomo by double-digits across all surveys taken in October, and it is very much the progressive's race to throw away.

A Bitter Contest

Yet, the former governor, who resigned as governor in recent years amid allegations of misconduct, has stated clearly he will fight to the end, and not necessarily in an above-the-belt fashion. He has criticized Mamdani's objectives as unachievable, and in recent days chuckled along as a radio host made anti-Muslim comments about the candidate, who is a Muslim. Recently, the independent was strongly criticized as racist after posting an AI-generated ad that featured a series of racial caricatures and showed Mamdani releasing a convicts.

This represents a rather grubby conclusion to an election that could be key to the direction that the Democratic party, struggling in its response to the former president's authoritarian grabs, adopts in the coming years.

National Implications

If the progressive secures a clear victory, the party establishment who have refused to endorse his campaign will be compelled to address a platform that has resonated with Americans' frustration at inequality, soaring price rises and the political elite. It would be difficult for the Senate leader and the House leader not to adopt at least some of the candidate's ambitious ideas about affordability, given the fresh face has generated an excitement within the party perhaps not witnessed since the Vermont senator campaigned for the White House eight years ago.

Conversely, if the former governor, who had been expected to sail to victory in the Democratic primary, achieve a surprising riches-to-rags-to-riches win, it could cement national Democrats' current model of cautious, lackluster opposition – a tactic that has infuriated the party base. A New York rejection of the progressive's optimistic platform could persuade party leaders that the best plan is to remain in the political center – even as polls show the current iteration of the party is widely disliked nationwide.

Campaign Energy

Voters in the city appear to favor the progressive agenda. Surveys show that his backers are far more enthusiastic about their candidate than his opponent's supporters, something that has been evident during the race. The candidate's engaging content on digital platforms, his hopeful outlook for New York and his readiness to actually get out and connect with voters in the metropolis has attracted an army of more than 50,000 volunteers, many of them youth or first-time voters.

Negative Tactics

Yet, Cuomo, 67, continues to fight. And with the stakes against him, the ex-leader has turned to negative campaigning in the final days.

After spending months launching various attacks at his opponent to see what might resonate, Cuomo has narrowed his focus on attacking Mamdani directly. He has called Mamdani, who was of Ugandan origin to South Asian heritage, an “extremist”, and appeared on conservative media for an discussion with a rightwing host, where the candidate asserted the city “will not survive” his opponent as city leader. It reached a nadir recently, when the former governor laughed along and said “that’s another problem” after a radio host said Mamdani would “cheer” another terrorist attack.

Campaign Dynamics

The line of attack mirrors much of what Trump, who has deployed the military reserves to Washington DC and threatened to do the same to NYC, has said about the progressive, and perhaps that is expected. A set of wealthy residents, including some who contributed to the Republican in the 2024 election, have pumped millions into trying to elect Cuomo into office, as other powerful voices have urged Curtis Sliwa to drop out from the contest.

Candidate Backgrounds

For the his team, and his wealthy backers, are worried, it should never have come to this. When the assemblyman, one of 150 New York state assembly members, started his mayoral bid in October 2024, not many had known him, and in truth, barely anyone even paid attention.

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 classic establishment figure, he had married a political dynasty member and served in Bill Clinton’s administration. He assumed office as the state's leader in over a decade ago, seventeen years after his parent, Mario Cuomo, left office from the same position.

The progressive, who was voted in 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 – present a more positive vision of the future than his opponent's pessimistic predictions about “mayhem” and rising criminal activity, and his vow to hire more police officers.

Recent Challenges

Nevertheless, Mamdani has faced difficulties in the final phase, after video emerged appearing to show him suggesting the NYPD and the IDF were connected.

“We have to make clear that when the boot of the NYPD is on your neck, it’s been laced by the Israeli military,” Mamdani said in the recording, filmed at a Democratic Socialists of America gathering in recent years. The progressive, a longtime critic of Israel who has said the country is committing genocide in the Palestinian territory, indicated he was criticizing joint training exercises between the NYPD and IDF.

Powerful Moment

As the race closes, the candidate seems to have gained empathy and backing, however, for his reaction to his opponent's increasing rhetoric.

The progressive addressed the independent's terrorism comments in an heartfelt recording. In it, Mamdani remembered how, when he first ran for the legislature, a family member advised to him that he did not have to disclose about his Muslim faith. It was a lesson, he said, that many local Muslims had been taught “again and again”: “That safety could only be found in the shadows of our community. 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 shadows, then it is in those silence that we must set aside our faith.”

Addressing the actions of Cuomo and Sliwa, who has claimed Mamd