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New Yorkers will discover the identity of their next mayor this election day, in a race that will determine who governs and defends the country's largest city at a moment when the former president has threatened to deploy armed forces to the city.

In this context, New York has witnessed a mayoral election that has matched two very different Democrats against each other. The election has become an acrimonious face-off, laced with accusations of racial bias and anti-Muslim sentiment, but it is the ideological divide between the two main candidates that could have significant consequences for how the Democratic party fares in next year's midterm elections.

The Rising Progressive

In the progressive corner is the democratic socialist, the young progressive candidate whose meteoric rise and people-powered movement has brought international attention. On the establishment side is the former governor, the ex- New York governor now campaigning independently – and benefiting from the backing of ultra-rich donors and corporations.

With days to go, it is Mamdani, the former longshot 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 two million New Yorkers, has led Cuomo by double-digits in every poll taken in October, and it is very much the younger man's race to lose.

The Controversial Campaign

Yet, the former governor, who stepped down as the state's leader in 2021 amid allegations of sexual harassment, has made it clear he will fight to the finish, and not necessarily in an fair manner. He has criticized Mamdani's goals as unrealistic, and in the final stretch chuckled along as a broadcaster made anti-Muslim comments about Mamdani, who is a Muslim. Two weeks ago, Cuomo was strongly criticized as racist after posting an AI-generated ad that featured a slew of racist stereotypes and showed Mamdani releasing a convicts.

This represents a particularly ugly end to an election that could be critical to the direction that the Democratic party, struggling in its reaction to Trump's power moves, takes in the coming years.

National Implications

Should Mamdani secures a clear victory, the party establishment who have refused to endorse his bid will be forced to reckon with a platform that has appealed to Americans' anger at economic disparity, inflation and the political elite. It would be hard for Chuck Schumer and the House leader not to embrace at least a portion of Mamdani's ambitious ideas about economic justice, given the fresh face has created an enthusiasm within the Democratic ranks arguably not seen since the Vermont senator ran for president in 2016.

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 reinforce national Democrats' existing approach of cautious, lackluster resistance – a strategy that has infuriated the party base. A New York rejection of the progressive's optimistic platform could convince party leaders that the best plan is to stick to the center – even as polls show the current iteration of the party is widely disliked nationwide.

Campaign Energy

Voters in New York appear to favor the progressive agenda. Surveys show that Mamdani supporters are far more enthusiastic about their choice than Cuomo backers, something that has been evident throughout the campaign. Mamdani's engaging content on social media, his hopeful outlook for New York and his willingness to actually venture out and connect with voters in the city has drawn an army of more than 50,000 supporters, many of them young or new participants.

Negative Tactics

However, Cuomo, in his late sixties, continues to fight. And with the risks against him, the ex-leader has resorted to negative campaigning in recent weeks.

After spending months launching various attacks at his opponent to see what might stick, the independent has narrowed his focus on attacking Mamdani directly. He has labelled Mamdani, who was born in Uganda to South Asian heritage, an “extremist”, and popped up on conservative media for an interview with a rightwing host, where the candidate claimed the city “will not survive” his opponent as city leader. It hit bottom recently, when Cuomo chuckled and said “that’s another problem” after a broadcaster said the candidate would “cheer” another terrorist attack.

Campaign Dynamics

This strategy echoes much of what Trump, who has sent the national guard to Washington DC and warned to do the same to NYC, has said about Mamdani, and maybe that is expected. A group of billionaire New Yorkers, including some who contributed to Trump in the 2024 election, have pumped millions into trying to get Cuomo elected, as other influential figures have urged the Republican candidate to withdraw from the race.

Candidate Backgrounds

As far as the his team, and his wealthy backers, are concerned, it should not have reached to this point. When the assemblyman, one of 150 state legislators, launched his campaign for mayor in last year, few had heard of him, and in reality, few even paid attention.

Cuomo, by contrast, entered smoothly into the contest in March 2025 and became the instant favorite. He was the big beast who apparently held every edge. The classic political insider, he had wed a Kennedy and served in a Democratic presidency. He assumed office as New York governor in over a decade ago, seventeen years after his parent, the former governor, stepped down from the identical role.

The progressive, who was elected to the state legislature in recently, does not have the comparable background. But his dedication to providing free buses and affordable child services – along with the freeze-the-rent pledge – offer 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, the candidate has encountered difficulties in the final phase, after video surfaced appearing to show him suggesting the New York police department 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 laced by the Israeli military,” the candidate said in the clip, filmed at a DSA gathering in recent years. Mamdani, a longtime critic of Israel who has said the country is engaging in atrocities in the Palestinian territory, suggested he was questioning joint training exercises between the NYPD and IDF.

Powerful Moment

With the election nearing, Mamdani seems to have gained sympathy and support, however, for his response to his opponent's escalating attacks.

The progressive addressed Cuomo’s 9/11 remarks in an heartfelt recording. In it, the candidate recalled how, when he first campaigned for the legislature, a family member suggested to him that he did not have to disclose about his religion. It was a lesson, Mamdani said, that many Muslim New Yorkers had been told “again and again”: “That security could only be found in the shadows of our city. That it is in those hidden spaces alone where followers of Islam could embrace their full identities, and that if we were to step out from those shadows, then it is in those shadows that we must leave our faith.”

Speaking to the behavior of Cuomo and Sliwa, who has claimed Mamd