🔗 Share this article

Residents of the Big Apple will learn who will be their new city leader this Tuesday, in a race that will decide who governs and defends the nation's largest city at a moment when the former president has vowed to send military troops to the urban center.

In this context, 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, marked by alleged racism and Islamophobia, but it is the ideological divide between the two main candidates that could have major implications for how the party fares in next year's congressional races.

The Rising Progressive

In the progressive corner is Zohran Mamdani, the young progressive candidate whose rapid ascent and people-powered movement has brought global notice. Representing the old guard is Andrew Cuomo, the ex- Democratic New York governor now running as an independent – and enjoying the backing of wealthy contributors and big business.

With days to go, it is Mamdani, the former longshot who defeated his opponent in the Democratic primary who is firmly installed as the frontrunner. The candidate, who has run on a platform of economic justice and pledged to halt rent increases for about two million city residents, has outpaced his rival by double-digits in every poll taken in October, and it is very much the younger man's election to throw away.

A Bitter Contest

However, the former governor, who stepped down as the state's leader in 2021 amid accusations of sexual harassment, has stated clearly he will battle to the end, and not necessarily in an fair fashion. He has criticized his opponent's objectives as unrealistic, and in the final stretch laughed as a broadcaster made anti-Muslim comments about the candidate, who is a Muslim. Two weeks ago, Cuomo was strongly criticized as bigoted after posting an AI-generated ad that featured a series of racial caricatures and showed his opponent releasing a convicts.

It's been a rather grubby end to an race that could be critical to the direction that the Democratic party, struggling in its response to the former president's power moves, adopts in the coming years.

Broader Consequences

If the progressive wins convincingly, the party establishment who have declined to support his bid will be forced to reckon with a platform that has resonated with voters' frustration at inequality, soaring price rises and the political elite. It would be difficult for the Senate leader and Hakeem Jeffries not to embrace at least a portion of Mamdani's ambitious ideas about affordability, given the newcomer has generated an excitement within the party arguably not witnessed since the Vermont senator ran for president in 2016.

Conversely, if Cuomo, who had been predicted to win easily in the June primary, achieve a surprising riches-to-rags-to-riches win, it could cement national Democrats' current model of cautious, lackluster opposition – a tactic that has infuriated grassroots members. A New York rejection of the progressive's optimistic platform could convince Schumer and Jeffries that the wisest course is to stick to the center – even as polls show the present version of the party is widely disliked across the country.

Voter Enthusiasm

Voters in New York appear to favor the Mamdani vision. Polls show that Mamdani supporters are much more excited about their choice than Cuomo backers, something that has been evident throughout the campaign. Mamdani's snappy videos on digital platforms, his optimistic vision for New York and his readiness to actually venture out and connect with voters in the metropolis has attracted an force of over fifty thousand volunteers, many of them young or first-time voters.

Personal Attacks

Yet, the former governor, 67, continues to fight. And with the risks against him, the ex-leader has resorted to ugly messaging in the final days.

Following extensive throwing basically everything at Mamdani to see what might resonate, the independent has narrowed his focus on attacking Mamdani directly. He has labelled his rival, who was born in Uganda to South Asian heritage, an "radical", and appeared on Fox Business for an discussion with Maria Bartiromo, where Cuomo claimed the city “will not survive” his opponent as city leader. It reached a nadir last week, when Cuomo laughed along and said “that’s another problem” after a broadcaster said Mamdani would “cheer” another terrorist attack.

Campaign Dynamics

This strategy echoes much of what Trump, who has deployed the military reserves to the capital and warned to do the same to New York, has said about the progressive, and perhaps 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 elected, as other powerful voices have urged Curtis Sliwa 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 Mamdani, one of 150 state legislators, launched his mayoral bid in last year, few had known him, and in truth, few even noticed.

Cuomo, by comparison, eased his way into the race in this year and became the immediate frontrunner. He was the big beast who seemingly held all the advantages. The classic establishment figure, he had wed a political dynasty member and worked in Bill Clinton’s administration. He became New York governor in 2011, 17 years after his father, Mario Cuomo, stepped down from the same position.

Mamdani, who was elected to the state legislature in 2020, does not have the comparable background. But his dedication to providing free buses and free childcare – along with the rent control promise – offer a more positive vision of the future than Cuomo’s pessimistic predictions about “mayhem” and rising criminal activity, and his vow to hire more police officers.

Recent Challenges

Nevertheless, the candidate has faced difficulties in the final phase, after footage emerged appearing to show him implying the New York police department and the IDF were connected.

“We have to make clear that when the pressure of the police is on your throat, it’s been laced by the IDF,” Mamdani said in the clip, recorded at a Democratic Socialists of America gathering in recent years. The progressive, a vocal opponent of the Israeli government who has said the country is committing genocide in the Palestinian territory, suggested he was questioning joint training exercises between the NYPD and Israeli forces.

Powerful Moment

As the race closes, Mamdani appears to have won sympathy and support, however, for his response to Cuomo’s escalating attacks.

Mamdani responded to the independent's terrorism comments in an heartfelt recording. In it, the candidate remembered how, when he first campaigned for the legislature, a family member suggested to him that he did not have to disclose about his Muslim faith. It was a lesson, Mamdani said, that many Muslim New Yorkers 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 followers of Islam could express their true selves, and that if we were to emerge from those seclusion, then it is in those silence that we must leave our faith.”

Addressing the behavior of his opponents, who has claimed Mamd