🔗 Share this article

Residents of the Big Apple will discover the identity of their next mayor this Tuesday, in a contest that will determine who governs and defends the country's largest city at a time when the former president has vowed to send military troops to the city.

Against that backdrop, New York has witnessed a mayoral election that has matched two very different Democrats against each other. The contest has become an acrimonious face-off, laced with alleged racism and anti-Muslim sentiment, but it is the ideological divide between the two leading contenders that could have major implications for how the party performs in next year's midterm elections.

The Rising Progressive

On the left side is Zohran Mamdani, the 34-year-old democratic socialist whose meteoric rise and people-powered movement has attracted global notice. On the establishment side is the former governor, the ex- New York governor now campaigning independently – and enjoying the support of ultra-rich donors and corporations.

With days to go, it is the progressive, the former longshot who defeated his opponent in the party primary who is firmly installed as the frontrunner. The candidate, who has run on a platform of economic justice and pledged to halt rent increases for about two million New Yorkers, has outpaced Cuomo by double-digits in every poll taken in the fall, and it is very much the progressive's race to lose.

The Controversial Campaign

However, Cuomo, who resigned as the state's leader in recent years amid allegations of misconduct, has made it clear he will battle to the end, and not necessarily in an above-the-belt manner. He has criticized his opponent's goals as unachievable, and in recent days chuckled along as a radio host made Islamophobic remarks about the candidate, who is Muslim. Two weeks ago, the independent was widely condemned as racist after sharing an artificial intelligence video that included a series of racial caricatures and showed Mamdani freeing a convicts.

It's been a rather grubby end to an race that could be key to the direction that the party, floundering in its reaction to the former president's authoritarian grabs, takes in the near future.

National Implications

Should Mamdani secures a clear victory, the establishment party leaders who have declined to support his campaign will be forced to reckon with a message that has appealed to voters' anger at inequality, soaring price rises and the establishment. It would be hard for the Senate leader and the House leader not to adopt at least a portion of Mamdani's ambitious ideas about affordability, given the newcomer has created an enthusiasm within the Democratic ranks perhaps not seen since Bernie Sanders campaigned for the White House in 2016.

However, should the former governor, who had been predicted to win easily in the June primary, achieve a remarkable comeback win, it could reinforce national Democrats' current model of cautious, uninspiring resistance – a tactic that has infuriated grassroots members. A NYC defeat of the progressive's progressive, positive message could convince 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 across the country.

Voter Enthusiasm

Residents of New York appear to favor the Mamdani vision. Surveys show that Mamdani supporters are far more enthusiastic about their candidate than Cuomo backers, something that has been apparent during the race. The candidate's engaging content on social media, his optimistic vision for the city and his readiness to actually venture out and connect with voters in the metropolis has drawn an force of over fifty thousand supporters, many of them youth or new participants.

Personal Attacks

However, Cuomo, in his late sixties, isn't giving up. And with the stakes against him, the former governor has resorted to negative campaigning in the final days.

After spending months launching various attacks at Mamdani to see what might resonate, the independent has concentrated on attacking Mamdani directly. He has called Mamdani, who was of Ugandan origin to Indian parents, an “extremist”, and popped up on Fox Business for an interview with a rightwing host, where the candidate claimed the city “will not survive” his opponent as mayor. It hit bottom last week, 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.

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 NYC, has said about Mamdani, and perhaps that is expected. A set of wealthy residents, including some who contributed to the Republican in the 2024 election, have invested heavily into trying to elect the independent elected, as other powerful voices have pressured the Republican candidate to withdraw from the contest.

Political Histories

As far as the Cuomo camp, and his wealthy backers, are concerned, it should never have come to this. When Mamdani, one of one hundred fifty New York state assembly members, launched his mayoral bid in last year, not many had heard of him, and in truth, few even noticed.

Cuomo, by contrast, entered smoothly into the race in March 2025 and became the instant favorite. He was the big beast who apparently held every edge. The quintessential political insider, he had wed a Kennedy and worked in a Democratic presidency. He assumed office as the state's leader in over a decade ago, 17 years after his father, the former governor, left office from the same position.

Mamdani, who was elected to the state legislature in recently, does not have the comparable background. But his commitment to providing free buses and free childcare – along with the freeze-the-rent pledge – offer a more positive vision of the city's direction than his opponent's pessimistic predictions about “mayhem” and unfettered crime, and his promise to hire more police officers.

Recent Challenges

Nevertheless, the candidate has faced some challenges in recent days, after footage emerged appearing to show him suggesting the NYPD and the Israel Defense Forces were connected.

“We have to make clear that when the boot of the NYPD is on your throat, it’s been laced by the Israeli military,” the candidate said in the recording, filmed at a Democratic Socialists of America convention in 2023. Mamdani, a longtime critic of Israel who has said the nation is committing genocide in the Palestinian territory, suggested he was questioning joint training exercises between the city police and IDF.

Powerful Moment

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

The progressive addressed Cuomo’s 9/11 remarks in an emotional video. In it, Mamdani remembered how, when he first campaigned for the legislature, a family member suggested to him that he did not have to tell people about his religion. It was a lesson, he 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 shadows alone where followers of Islam could embrace their true selves, and that if we were to step out from those shadows, then it is in those shadows that we must leave our beliefs.”

Addressing the behavior of Cuomo and Sliwa, who has alleged Mamd