🔗 Share this article

Residents of the Big Apple will find out who will be their next mayor this election day, in a contest that will determine who runs and defends the country's most populous metropolis at a time when Donald Trump has vowed to deploy military troops to the urban center.

In this context, New York has witnessed a race for mayor that has matched two distinctly opposing Democratic figures against one another. The contest has become an acrimonious showdown, laced with alleged racism and Islamophobia, but it is the political differences between the two main contenders that could have major implications for how the party fares in next year's congressional races.

The Progressive Challenger

On the left side is Zohran Mamdani, the young democratic socialist whose rapid ascent and people-powered movement has attracted international attention. Representing the old guard is Andrew Cuomo, the former New York governor now campaigning independently – and benefiting from the backing of ultra-rich donors and big business.

As the election approaches, it is the progressive, the former longshot who beat his opponent in the party primary who is firmly installed as the frontrunner. The candidate, who has campaigned on a platform of economic justice and pledged to halt rent increases for about 2 million city residents, has outpaced Cuomo by double-digits in every poll taken in the fall, and it is very much the progressive's election to lose.

The Controversial Campaign

Yet, the former governor, who stepped down as governor in 2021 amid allegations of misconduct, has made it clear he will battle to the finish, and not necessarily in an fair fashion. He has trashed his opponent's objectives as unrealistic, and in recent days chuckled along as a radio host made anti-Muslim comments about Mamdani, who is a Muslim. Two weeks ago, Cuomo was widely condemned as bigoted after sharing an AI-generated ad that included a slew of racist stereotypes and showed Mamdani freeing a group of criminals.

It's been a rather grubby end to an election that could be critical to the path that the Democratic party, floundering in its reaction to the former president's power moves, takes in the near future.

Broader Consequences

Should the progressive secures a clear victory, the establishment party leaders who have declined to support his bid will be compelled to address a platform that has resonated with voters' anger at economic disparity, soaring price rises and the establishment. It would be hard for the Senate leader and the House leader not to embrace at least a portion of Mamdani's progressive proposals about economic justice, given the fresh face has created an excitement within the Democratic ranks perhaps not seen since the Vermont senator campaigned for the White House eight years ago.

Conversely, if the former governor, who had been expected to sail to victory in the Democratic primary, complete a remarkable comeback win, it could cement the party's existing approach of cautious, lackluster resistance – a strategy that has infuriated grassroots members. A NYC 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 current iteration of the party is deeply unpopular nationwide.

Campaign Energy

Residents of the city appear to favor the progressive agenda. Surveys show that his backers are far more enthusiastic about their candidate than his opponent's supporters, something that has been evident throughout the campaign. The candidate's snappy videos on social media, his optimistic vision for the city and his willingness to actually get out and connect with voters in the city has drawn an army of more than 50,000 supporters, many of them youth or first-time voters.

Negative Tactics

However, the former governor, in his late sixties, isn't giving up. And with the risks against him, the ex-leader has turned to ugly messaging in the final days.

Following extensive launching various attacks at Mamdani to see what might stick, the independent has narrowed his focus on attacking the candidate personally. He has called his rival, who was born in Uganda to South Asian heritage, an “extremist”, and popped up on conservative media for an discussion with Maria Bartiromo, where Cuomo asserted New York “will not survive” his opponent as mayor. It reached a nadir last week, when Cuomo laughed along and said “that’s another problem” after a radio host said Mamdani would “cheer” another terrorist incident.

Campaign Dynamics

This strategy mirrors much of what Trump, who has deployed the military reserves to the capital and threatened to do the same to New York, has said about the progressive, and maybe that is expected. A group of wealthy residents, including some who donated to Trump in the 2024 election, have pumped millions into trying to get the independent into office, as other influential figures have urged Curtis Sliwa to withdraw from the race.

Political Histories

For the Cuomo camp, and his wealthy backers, are worried, it should not have reached to this point. When Mamdani, one of 150 state legislators, launched his campaign for mayor in October 2024, not many had heard of him, and in truth, barely anyone even noticed.

The former governor, by comparison, entered smoothly into the contest in this year and became the immediate frontrunner. He was the big beast who apparently held every edge. The quintessential political insider, he had wed a Kennedy and served in Bill Clinton’s administration. He became the state's leader in over a decade ago, seventeen years after his parent, the former governor, stepped down from the same position.

Mamdani, who was elected to the New York state assembly in 2020, does not have the same political heritage. But his dedication to providing free buses and free childcare – along with the rent control promise – offer a brighter outlook of the city's direction than Cuomo’s pessimistic predictions about “mayhem” and rising criminal activity, and his promise to hire more police officers.

Recent Challenges

Still, the candidate has faced difficulties in recent days, after footage surfaced suggesting him implying the New York police department and the Israel Defense Forces were intertwined.

“We have to make clear that when the boot of the NYPD is on your throat, it’s been influenced by the Israeli military,” the candidate said in the clip, filmed at a DSA gathering in 2023. The progressive, a vocal opponent of the Israeli government who has said the nation is engaging in atrocities in Gaza, indicated he was questioning joint training exercises between the city police and IDF.

Emotional Response

With the election nearing, the candidate seems to have gained sympathy and support, however, for his response 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 state assembly, a Muslim uncle suggested to him that he did not have to disclose about his Muslim faith. 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 followers of Islam could embrace their full identities, and that if we were to emerge from those shadows, then it is in those silence that we must set aside our faith.”

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