🔗 Share this article

Residents of the Big Apple will discover who will be their next mayor this election day, in a race that will determine who governs and protects the country's most populous metropolis at a time when the former president has vowed to send military troops to the urban center.

In this context, New York has witnessed a race for mayor that has pitted two distinctly opposing Democratic figures against each other. The contest has become an increasingly bitter showdown, laced with accusations of racism and anti-Muslim sentiment, but it is the political differences between the two main contenders that could have significant consequences for how the Democratic party performs in next year's congressional races.

The Rising Progressive

In the progressive corner is the democratic socialist, the 34-year-old progressive candidate whose rapid ascent and people-powered movement has attracted global notice. On the establishment side is the former governor, the ex- Democratic New York governor now running as an independent – and enjoying the backing of wealthy contributors and big business.

As the election approaches, it is Mamdani, the former longshot who defeated Cuomo in the party primary who is solidly positioned as the leading candidate. The candidate, who has run on a platform of economic justice and pledged to halt rent increases for about 2 million city residents, has outpaced Cuomo by significant margins in every poll taken in October, and it is very much the younger man's election to throw away.

A Bitter Contest

Yet, the former governor, who stepped down as governor in 2021 amid accusations of misconduct, has made it clear he will fight to the finish, and not necessarily in an above-the-belt fashion. He has criticized Mamdani's goals as unachievable, and in recent days laughed as a broadcaster made Islamophobic remarks about Mamdani, who is a Muslim. Recently, Cuomo was widely condemned as racist after sharing an artificial intelligence video that included a series of racial caricatures and showed Mamdani releasing a convicts.

It's been a rather grubby end to an election that could be critical to the direction that the party, floundering in its reaction to Trump's authoritarian grabs, adopts in the coming years.

National Implications

If the progressive wins convincingly, the establishment party leaders who have declined to support his bid will be forced to reckon with a platform that has appealed to Americans' frustration at inequality, soaring price rises 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 progressive proposals about economic justice, given the fresh face has created an enthusiasm within the Democratic ranks perhaps not witnessed since Bernie Sanders campaigned for the White House eight years ago.

Conversely, if the former governor, who had been expected to sail to victory in the June primary, complete a surprising riches-to-rags-to-riches victory, it could reinforce national Democrats' existing approach of cautious, uninspiring opposition – a strategy that has angered grassroots members. A New York defeat of the progressive's optimistic platform could persuade party leaders that the wisest course is to remain in the political center – even as polls show the present version of the Democratic party is deeply unpopular across the country.

Voter Enthusiasm

Voters in the city seem to prefer the progressive agenda. Polls show that his backers are far more enthusiastic about their candidate than his opponent's supporters, something that has been evident during the race. The candidate's engaging content on social media, his optimistic vision for New York and his willingness to actually venture out and meet people in the metropolis has attracted an force of over fifty thousand volunteers, many of them youth or new participants.

Personal Attacks

Yet, Cuomo, 67, continues to fight. And with the risks against him, the former governor has turned to ugly messaging in recent weeks.

After spending months throwing basically everything at Mamdani to see what might stick, Cuomo has narrowed his focus on targeting Mamdani personally. He has labelled his rival, who was of Ugandan origin to Indian parents, an “extremist”, and popped up on Fox Business for an discussion with a rightwing host, where Cuomo asserted New York “will not survive” Mamdani as mayor. It hit bottom recently, when the former governor chuckled and said “that’s another problem” after a broadcaster said the candidate would “cheer” another 9/11-style incident.

Political Landscape

This strategy mirrors much of what the former president, who has sent the national guard to Washington DC and warned to do the same to NYC, has said about the progressive, and perhaps that shouldn’t come as a surprise. A group of billionaire New Yorkers, including some who donated to the Republican in the last presidential race, have invested heavily into trying to get the independent into office, as other influential figures have urged the Republican candidate to withdraw from the race.

Candidate Backgrounds

As far as the Cuomo camp, and his wealthy backers, are worried, it should not have reached to this point. When Mamdani, one of one hundred fifty New York state assembly members, started his campaign for mayor in last year, not many had known him, and in reality, barely anyone even noticed.

The former governor, by comparison, entered smoothly into the contest in March 2025 and became the immediate frontrunner. He was the political heavyweight who apparently held all the advantages. The quintessential political insider, he had wed a Kennedy and served in Bill Clinton’s administration. He became the state's leader in 2011, 17 years after his parent, the former governor, left office from the identical role.

Mamdani, who was voted in to the state legislature in 2020, does not have the comparable background. But his commitment to providing no-cost transit and free childcare – along with the rent control promise – present a brighter outlook of the city's direction than his opponent's pessimistic predictions about “mayhem” and rising criminal activity, and his promise to increase police presence.

Recent Challenges

Still, the candidate has encountered some challenges in the final phase, after footage surfaced appearing to show him suggesting the NYPD and the IDF were connected.

“We have to make clear that when the boot of the NYPD is on your neck, it’s been influenced by the Israeli military,” the candidate said in the clip, filmed at a Democratic Socialists of America convention in recent years. The progressive, a vocal opponent of the Israeli government who has said the nation is engaging in atrocities in the Palestinian territory, indicated he was questioning cooperative programs between the city police and IDF.

Powerful Moment

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

The progressive addressed the independent's 9/11 remarks in an heartfelt recording. In it, Mamdani remembered how, when he first ran for state assembly, a family member advised to him that he did not have to disclose about his Muslim faith. It was a lesson, Mamdani said, that many local Muslims 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 emerge from those seclusion, then it is in those silence that we must set aside our beliefs.”

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