🔗 Share this article

Residents of the Big Apple will discover who will be their next mayor this Tuesday, in a contest that will determine who governs and defends the country's largest city at a time when Donald Trump has threatened to send military troops to the urban center.

Against that backdrop, New York has experienced a race for mayor that has matched two very different Democrats against one another. The contest has become an acrimonious face-off, laced with alleged racial bias and anti-Muslim sentiment, but it is the political differences between the two leading contenders 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 the democratic socialist, the young progressive candidate whose meteoric rise and people-powered movement has brought international attention. On the establishment side is Andrew Cuomo, the former New York governor now campaigning independently – and benefiting from the support of ultra-rich donors and big business.

With days to go, it is Mamdani, the one-time underdog who beat Cuomo in the Democratic primary who is firmly installed as the frontrunner. Mamdani, who has campaigned on a platform of economic justice and pledged to halt rent increases for about 2 million New Yorkers, has led Cuomo by significant margins in every poll taken in October, and it is very much the younger man's election to lose.

A Bitter Contest

Yet, Cuomo, who resigned as governor in 2021 amid accusations of sexual harassment, has made it clear he will battle to the end, and not necessarily in an above-the-belt fashion. He has trashed Mamdani's objectives as unrealistic, and in the final stretch chuckled along as a radio host made Islamophobic remarks about Mamdani, who is Muslim. Recently, the independent was strongly criticized as bigoted after posting an AI-generated ad that included a series of racist stereotypes and showed his opponent releasing a convicts.

It's been a particularly ugly conclusion to an race that could be critical to the direction that the Democratic party, struggling in its response to Trump's authoritarian grabs, adopts in the near future.

Broader Consequences

If Mamdani secures a clear victory, the party establishment who have refused to endorse his bid will be compelled to address a message that has resonated with Americans' frustration at economic disparity, inflation and the political elite. It would be difficult for Chuck Schumer and Hakeem Jeffries not to adopt at least some of the candidate's progressive proposals about affordability, given the newcomer has created an excitement within the Democratic ranks arguably not seen since the Vermont senator ran for president in 2016.

However, should the former governor, who had been predicted to win easily in the Democratic primary, achieve a surprising riches-to-rags-to-riches victory, it could reinforce national Democrats' current model of considered, uninspiring opposition – a strategy that has angered the party base. A New York rejection of Mamdani's progressive, positive message could convince party leaders that the best plan is to remain in the center – even as polls show the current iteration of the party is deeply unpopular nationwide.

Voter Enthusiasm

Residents of New York appear to favor the Mamdani vision. Polls show that his backers are far more enthusiastic about their choice 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 willingness to actually venture out and connect with voters in the metropolis has drawn an force of more than 50,000 volunteers, many of them young or first-time voters.

Negative Tactics

Yet, Cuomo, 67, isn't giving up. And with the stakes against him, the former governor has turned to ugly messaging in the final days.

Following extensive throwing basically everything at Mamdani to see what might stick, the independent has concentrated on targeting the candidate directly. He has labelled his rival, who was of Ugandan origin to South Asian heritage, an “extremist”, and appeared on conservative media for an interview with a rightwing host, where Cuomo claimed the city “will not survive” his opponent as city leader. It reached a nadir recently, when the former governor laughed along and said “that’s another problem” after a broadcaster said the candidate would “cheer” another 9/11-style incident.

Campaign Dynamics

This strategy mirrors much of what Trump, who has deployed the national guard to the capital and threatened to do the same to NYC, has said about the progressive, and perhaps that shouldn’t come as a surprise. A group of wealthy residents, including some who contributed to Trump in the 2024 election, have invested heavily into trying to get Cuomo into office, as other influential figures have urged the Republican candidate to drop out from the contest.

Political Histories

For the his team, and his billionaire supporters, are concerned, it should not have reached to this. When the assemblyman, one of 150 New York state assembly members, launched his campaign for mayor in last year, few had heard of him, and in truth, few even noticed.

Cuomo, by comparison, eased his way into the race in March 2025 and became the instant favorite. He was the political heavyweight who apparently held every edge. The quintessential political insider, he had married a political dynasty member and served in Bill Clinton’s administration. He assumed office as New York governor in 2011, seventeen years after his parent, the former governor, stepped down from the same position.

Mamdani, who was voted in to the New York state assembly in recently, does not have the comparable background. But his dedication to providing free buses and free childcare – along with the freeze-the-rent pledge – present a brighter outlook of the future than Cuomo’s pessimistic predictions about “mayhem” and unfettered crime, and his promise to increase police presence.

Campaign Controversies

Still, the candidate has encountered difficulties in recent days, after footage surfaced suggesting him suggesting the NYPD and the IDF were intertwined.

“We have to make clear that when the boot of the police is on your throat, it’s been laced by the IDF,” the candidate said in the recording, recorded at a DSA convention in recent years. The progressive, a vocal opponent of the Israeli government who has said the country is engaging in atrocities in the Palestinian territory, indicated he was criticizing cooperative programs between the city police and IDF.

Powerful Moment

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

Mamdani addressed the independent's 9/11 remarks in an emotional video. In it, Mamdani remembered how, when he first campaigned for state assembly, a Muslim uncle suggested to him that he did not have to tell people 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 margins of our city. That it is in those shadows 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 set aside our faith.”

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