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Residents of the Big Apple will learn who will be their next mayor this election day, in a contest that will decide who runs and defends the nation's largest city at a time when the former president has threatened to deploy military troops to the city.

In this context, New York has experienced a race for mayor that has pitted two very different Democrats against one another. The contest has turned into an increasingly bitter face-off, laced with accusations of racism and Islamophobia, but it is the political differences between the two main candidates that could have significant consequences for how the party performs in next year's midterm elections.

The Rising Progressive

On the left side is Zohran Mamdani, the young progressive candidate whose meteoric rise and grassroots campaign has attracted international attention. On the establishment side is the former governor, the ex- Democratic New York governor now running as an independent – and benefiting from the backing of wealthy contributors and big business.

With days to go, it is Mamdani, the former longshot who beat Cuomo in the Democratic primary who is solidly positioned as the frontrunner. The candidate, who has campaigned on a platform of economic justice and pledged to halt rent increases for about two million city residents, has led Cuomo by significant margins across all surveys conducted in October, and it is very much the progressive's election to lose.

The Controversial Campaign

However, Cuomo, who stepped down 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 manner. He has trashed Mamdani's objectives as unachievable, and in recent days laughed as a broadcaster made anti-Muslim comments about Mamdani, who is Muslim. Recently, Cuomo was strongly criticized as bigoted after posting an AI-generated ad 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, struggling in its reaction to the former president's power moves, adopts in the near future.

National Implications

Should the progressive wins convincingly, the party establishment who have declined to support his bid will be compelled to address a message that has appealed to voters' anger at economic disparity, inflation and the political elite. It would be hard for Chuck Schumer and Hakeem Jeffries not to adopt at least a portion of the candidate's ambitious ideas about affordability, given the fresh face has generated an excitement within the party perhaps not seen since Bernie Sanders campaigned for the White House eight years ago.

However, should the former governor, who had been expected to sail to victory in the Democratic primary, complete a surprising riches-to-rags-to-riches win, it could cement the party's existing approach of considered, uninspiring resistance – a strategy that has angered the party base. A New York rejection of Mamdani's optimistic platform could persuade party leaders that the wisest course is to stick to the center – even as surveys show the present version of the party is widely disliked across the country.

Voter Enthusiasm

Residents of the city appear to favor the progressive agenda. Polls show that Mamdani supporters are far more enthusiastic about their choice than Cuomo backers, something that has been apparent during the race. The candidate's snappy videos on social media, his optimistic vision for the city and his willingness to actually venture out and meet people in the city has attracted an force of over fifty thousand supporters, many of them youth or first-time voters.

Negative Tactics

However, the former governor, 67, isn't giving up. And with the risks stacked against him, the ex-leader has resorted to ugly messaging in the final days.

Following extensive launching various attacks at his opponent to see what might stick, the independent has narrowed his focus on attacking the candidate directly. He has called his rival, who was of Ugandan origin to Indian parents, an "radical", and appeared on conservative media for an discussion with a rightwing host, where the candidate claimed New York “will not survive” his opponent as mayor. It hit bottom last week, when Cuomo chuckled and said “that’s another problem” after a radio host said the candidate would “cheer” another terrorist incident.

Campaign Dynamics

This strategy mirrors much of what Trump, who has sent the national guard to Washington DC and warned to do the same to New York, has said about the progressive, and maybe 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 Cuomo elected, as other influential figures have urged the Republican candidate to drop out from the race.

Candidate Backgrounds

As far as the Cuomo camp, and his billionaire supporters, are worried, it should not have reached to this point. When Mamdani, one of 150 New York state assembly members, started his campaign for mayor in October 2024, few had heard of him, and in truth, barely anyone even noticed.

Cuomo, by contrast, eased his way into the contest in this year and became the immediate frontrunner. He was the political heavyweight who seemingly held all the advantages. The classic establishment figure, he had married a Kennedy and served in a Democratic presidency. He assumed office as the state's leader in 2011, seventeen years after his father, Mario Cuomo, left office from the same position.

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 affordable child services – along with the rent control promise – present a brighter outlook of the city's direction than Cuomo’s dire warnings about “mayhem” and unfettered crime, and his promise to increase police presence.

Recent Challenges

Still, Mamdani has faced difficulties in recent days, 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 influenced by the IDF,” Mamdani said in the clip, recorded at a Democratic Socialists of America gathering in recent years. The progressive, a longtime critic of the Israeli government who has said the country is committing genocide in the Palestinian territory, indicated he was criticizing cooperative programs between the city police and IDF.

Powerful Moment

As the race closes, Mamdani appears to have won sympathy and support, however, for his reaction to his opponent's escalating attacks.

The progressive addressed Cuomo’s terrorism comments in an heartfelt recording. In it, the candidate recalled how, when he first campaigned for the legislature, a Muslim uncle suggested to him that he did not have to disclose about his religion. It was a realization, he said, that many Muslim New Yorkers had been taught “again and again”: “That safety could only be found in the shadows of our community. That it is in those hidden spaces alone where Muslims 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 beliefs.”

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