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New Yorkers will discover who will be their next mayor this election day, in a contest that will decide who runs and defends the nation's most populous metropolis at a time when Donald Trump has threatened to send military troops to the urban center.

In this context, New York has witnessed a mayoral election that has matched two distinctly opposing Democrats against each other. The contest has become an increasingly bitter face-off, laced with alleged racial bias and Islamophobia, but it is the ideological divide between the two main candidates that could have major implications 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 attracted international attention. On the establishment side is Andrew Cuomo, the former New York governor now running as an independent – and benefiting from the backing of wealthy contributors and corporations.

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 frontrunner. Mamdani, who has campaigned on a platform of affordability and promised to freeze rent for about two million New Yorkers, has outpaced his rival by significant margins in every poll taken in October, and it is very much the younger man's election to throw away.

The Controversial Campaign

Yet, Cuomo, who stepped down as governor in recent years amid accusations of sexual harassment, has stated clearly he will fight to the end, and not necessarily in an fair fashion. He has trashed 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. Two weeks ago, the independent was strongly criticized as racist after sharing an artificial intelligence video that featured a slew of racist stereotypes and showed his opponent releasing a convicts.

It's been a particularly ugly end to an race that could be critical to the path that the party, floundering in its reaction to the former president's authoritarian grabs, takes in the near future.

Broader Consequences

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 resonated with Americans' anger at inequality, inflation and the political elite. It would be hard for the Senate leader and Hakeem Jeffries not to embrace at least some of the candidate's progressive proposals about affordability, given the fresh face has generated an enthusiasm within the party perhaps not seen since Bernie Sanders ran for president eight years ago.

Conversely, should Cuomo, who had been expected to win easily in the Democratic primary, complete a remarkable riches-to-rags-to-riches win, it could cement the party's existing approach of considered, uninspiring opposition – a tactic that has infuriated the party base. A NYC defeat of Mamdani's progressive, positive message could convince party leaders that the best plan is to remain in the political center – even as surveys show the current iteration of the Democratic party is widely disliked across the country.

Campaign Energy

Residents of the city appear to favor the progressive agenda. Polls show that Mamdani supporters are much more excited about their choice than his opponent's supporters, something that has been apparent throughout the campaign. Mamdani's engaging content on digital platforms, his optimistic vision for the city and his readiness to actually venture out and meet people in the metropolis has attracted an force of over fifty thousand supporters, many of them young or new participants.

Personal Attacks

Yet, the former governor, 67, isn't giving up. And with the risks against him, the ex-leader has resorted to negative campaigning in the final days.

After spending months throwing basically everything at Mamdani to see what might stick, Cuomo has concentrated on attacking Mamdani personally. He has called his rival, who was born in Uganda to Indian parents, an “extremist”, and popped up on Fox Business for an discussion with a rightwing host, where Cuomo asserted New York “will not survive” Mamdani as city leader. It reached a nadir recently, when Cuomo chuckled and said “that’s another problem” after a radio host said the candidate would “cheer” another 9/11-style incident.

Campaign Dynamics

The line of attack echoes much of what the former president, who has sent the national guard to the capital and threatened to do the same to New York, has said about the progressive, and perhaps that shouldn’t come as a surprise. A set of billionaire New Yorkers, including some who contributed to the Republican in the last presidential race, have pumped millions into trying to get the independent elected, as other influential figures have pressured Curtis Sliwa to withdraw from the race.

Candidate Backgrounds

For the his team, and his billionaire supporters, are concerned, it should never have come to this. When the assemblyman, one of 150 New York state assembly members, launched his mayoral bid in October 2024, not many had heard of him, and in reality, barely anyone even noticed.

Cuomo, by contrast, eased his way into the race in March 2025 and became the immediate frontrunner. He was the big beast who apparently held all the advantages. The classic establishment figure, he had married a Kennedy and served in a Democratic presidency. He became New York governor in 2011, seventeen years after his parent, the former governor, left office from the identical role.

Mamdani, who was voted in to the state legislature in 2020, does not have the same political heritage. But his dedication to providing free buses and free childcare – along with the freeze-the-rent pledge – offer a brighter outlook of the future than Cuomo’s pessimistic predictions about “mayhem” and rising criminal activity, and his promise to hire more police officers.

Campaign Controversies

Nevertheless, Mamdani has encountered some challenges in recent days, after footage emerged appearing to show him implying the New York police department and the IDF were connected.

“We have to make clear that when the pressure of the NYPD is on your throat, it’s been influenced by the IDF,” Mamdani said in the clip, filmed at a Democratic Socialists of America gathering in recent years. The progressive, a vocal opponent of the Israeli government who has said the nation is committing genocide in Gaza, suggested he was criticizing joint training exercises between the city police and IDF.

Powerful Moment

With the election nearing, the candidate seems to have gained empathy and backing, however, for his reaction to his opponent's increasing rhetoric.

The progressive responded to Cuomo’s 9/11 remarks in an heartfelt recording. In it, Mamdani remembered how, when he first campaigned for state assembly, a Muslim uncle suggested to him that he did not have to disclose about his religion. It was a realization, Mamdani said, that many Muslim New Yorkers had been told “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 embrace their full identities, and that if we were to emerge from those seclusion, then it is in those shadows that we must set aside our faith.”

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