🔗 Share this article

New Yorkers will discover the identity of their next mayor this election day, in a race that will determine who runs and protects the nation's most populous metropolis at a time when the former president has threatened to send military troops to the urban center.

Against that backdrop, New York has experienced a mayoral election that has pitted two distinctly opposing Democratic figures against each other. The election has turned into an acrimonious showdown, marked by alleged racial bias and Islamophobia, but it is the ideological divide between the two main contenders that could have major implications for how the party performs in next year's congressional races.

The Rising Progressive

In the progressive corner is the democratic socialist, the young progressive candidate whose rapid ascent and grassroots campaign has attracted international attention. Representing the old guard is the former governor, the ex- New York governor now running as an independent – and enjoying the backing of wealthy contributors and big business.

As the election approaches, it is the progressive, the one-time underdog who defeated his opponent in the party primary who is solidly positioned as the leading candidate. Mamdani, who has campaigned on a platform of economic justice and pledged to halt rent increases for about two million New Yorkers, has outpaced his rival by double-digits across all surveys taken in October, and it is very much the progressive's election to lose.

A Bitter Contest

Yet, the former governor, who stepped down as the state's leader in 2021 amid allegations of misconduct, has stated clearly he will battle to the end, and not necessarily in an fair fashion. 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 a Muslim. Two weeks ago, the independent was strongly criticized as bigoted after sharing an AI-generated ad that featured a series of racial caricatures and showed Mamdani freeing a group of criminals.

It's been a rather grubby end to an race that could be critical to the direction that the party, floundering in its response to Trump's authoritarian grabs, takes in the near future.

National Implications

Should the progressive secures a clear victory, the party establishment who have refused to endorse his campaign will be forced to reckon with a platform that has appealed to Americans' frustration at inequality, inflation and the establishment. It would be difficult for the Senate leader and the House leader not to embrace at least a portion of Mamdani's progressive proposals about affordability, given the fresh face has generated an enthusiasm within the Democratic ranks perhaps not seen since Bernie Sanders ran for president in 2016.

However, if Cuomo, who had been predicted to sail to victory in the Democratic primary, complete a surprising riches-to-rags-to-riches win, it could cement national Democrats' current model of considered, uninspiring resistance – a strategy that has infuriated the party base. A NYC defeat of Mamdani's progressive, positive message could convince Schumer and Jeffries that the wisest course is to stick to the center – even as surveys show the current iteration of the Democratic party is widely disliked across the country.

Campaign Energy

Voters in New York seem to prefer the Mamdani vision. Polls show that Mamdani supporters are much more excited about their choice than his opponent's supporters, something that has been apparent during the race. Mamdani's engaging content on social media, his hopeful outlook for the city and his readiness to actually get out and meet people in the city has attracted an army of over fifty thousand volunteers, many of them young or first-time voters.

Negative Tactics

However, Cuomo, in his late sixties, continues to fight. And with the stakes stacked against him, the former governor has turned to negative campaigning in recent weeks.

After spending months throwing basically everything at his opponent to see what might stick, Cuomo has concentrated on targeting the candidate personally. He has labelled Mamdani, who was born in Uganda to Indian parents, an "radical", and appeared on conservative media for an discussion with Maria Bartiromo, where Cuomo claimed New York “will not survive” his opponent as mayor. It hit bottom recently, when Cuomo chuckled and said “that’s another problem” after a broadcaster said the candidate would “cheer” another 9/11-style incident.

Political Landscape

This strategy echoes much of what the former president, who has sent the national guard to Washington DC and threatened to take similar action to New York, has said about Mamdani, and perhaps that is expected. A group of billionaire New Yorkers, including some who contributed to Trump in the last presidential race, have invested heavily into trying to get Cuomo into office, as other influential figures have urged Curtis Sliwa to drop out from the contest.

Political Histories

As far as the Cuomo camp, and his wealthy backers, are concerned, it should not have reached to this point. When the assemblyman, one of 150 New York state assembly members, launched his mayoral bid in last year, few had heard of him, and in reality, few even paid attention.

The former governor, by comparison, entered smoothly into the contest in March 2025 and became the instant favorite. He was the political heavyweight who seemingly held every edge. The classic establishment figure, he had wed a political dynasty member and served in a Democratic presidency. He became the state's leader in 2011, seventeen years after his father, Mario Cuomo, left office from the same position.

The progressive, who was voted in to the state legislature in recently, does not have the same political heritage. But his dedication to providing free buses and affordable child services – along with the freeze-the-rent pledge – present a brighter outlook of the future than his opponent's dire warnings about “mayhem” and unfettered crime, and his promise to increase police presence.

Recent Challenges

Still, Mamdani has faced difficulties in the final phase, after footage emerged suggesting 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 neck, it’s been laced by the IDF,” the candidate said in the recording, recorded at a DSA gathering in recent years. Mamdani, a longtime critic of the Israeli government who has said the nation is engaging in atrocities in Gaza, suggested he was questioning cooperative programs between the NYPD and Israeli forces.

Powerful Moment

With the election nearing, Mamdani seems to have gained empathy and backing, however, for his reaction to Cuomo’s increasing rhetoric.

The progressive addressed the independent's 9/11 remarks in an emotional video. In it, Mamdani recalled how, when he first ran for the legislature, a Muslim uncle advised to him that he did not have to disclose about his religion. It was a realization, he said, that many local Muslims had been taught “again and again”: “That security could only be found in the shadows of our community. That it is in those shadows alone where Muslims could express their full identities, and that if we were to emerge from those shadows, then it is in those silence that we must leave our beliefs.”

Addressing the actions of his opponents, who has alleged Mamd