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Residents of the Big Apple will learn who will be their next mayor this election day, in a race 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 urban center.

In this context, New York has witnessed a mayoral election that has pitted two very different Democrats against each other. The election has turned into an acrimonious showdown, marked by alleged racism and Islamophobia, but it is the political differences between the two main contenders that could have major implications for how the party performs in next year's congressional races.

The Progressive Challenger

In the progressive corner is the democratic socialist, the young democratic socialist whose rapid ascent and grassroots campaign has attracted international attention. Representing the old guard is Andrew Cuomo, the ex- New York governor now campaigning independently – and benefiting from the support of ultra-rich donors and corporations.

With days to go, it is the progressive, the former longshot who beat Cuomo in the Democratic primary who is solidly positioned as the frontrunner. Mamdani, who has campaigned on a platform of affordability and pledged to halt rent increases for about 2 million city residents, has led Cuomo by significant margins in every poll taken in the fall, and it is very much the younger man's race to lose.

A Bitter Contest

Yet, Cuomo, who resigned as governor in 2021 amid allegations of misconduct, has made it clear he will fight to the end, and not necessarily in an above-the-belt manner. He has trashed Mamdani's goals as unrealistic, and in the final stretch laughed as a broadcaster made anti-Muslim comments about Mamdani, who is a Muslim. Two weeks ago, Cuomo was widely condemned as racist after posting an artificial intelligence video that featured a slew of racial caricatures and showed his opponent releasing a group of criminals.

It's been a rather grubby conclusion to an race that could be key to the path that the party, floundering in its response to Trump's power moves, adopts in the coming years.

National Implications

Should 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 voters' anger at economic disparity, soaring price rises and the establishment. It would be hard for Chuck Schumer and the House leader not to embrace at least some of Mamdani's ambitious ideas about economic justice, given the newcomer has created an excitement within the party perhaps not seen since the Vermont senator ran for president in 2016.

However, if the former governor, who had been predicted to sail to victory in the June primary, complete a remarkable riches-to-rags-to-riches victory, it could reinforce national Democrats' existing approach of considered, lackluster opposition – a tactic that has angered grassroots members. A New York defeat of the progressive's optimistic platform could persuade party leaders that the best plan is to remain in the center – even as surveys show the present version of the party is widely disliked nationwide.

Voter Enthusiasm

Residents of New York appear to favor the progressive agenda. Surveys show that Mamdani supporters are far more enthusiastic about their candidate than his opponent's supporters, something that has been evident during the race. Mamdani's engaging content on social media, his optimistic vision for New York and his willingness to actually get out and meet people in the metropolis has attracted an army of more than 50,000 volunteers, many of them young or new participants.

Personal Attacks

Yet, the former governor, in his late sixties, isn't giving up. And with the stakes stacked against him, the former governor has turned to ugly messaging in recent weeks.

After spending months launching various attacks at Mamdani to see what might stick, Cuomo has concentrated on targeting Mamdani 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 claimed the city “will not survive” Mamdani as city leader. It hit bottom last week, when the former governor laughed along and said “that’s another problem” after a broadcaster said Mamdani 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 threatened to do the same to NYC, has said about the progressive, and maybe that shouldn’t come as a surprise. A set of billionaire New Yorkers, including some who donated to the Republican in the 2024 election, have invested heavily into trying to get the independent elected, as other powerful voices have urged Curtis Sliwa to withdraw from the race.

Political Histories

For the his team, and his billionaire supporters, are worried, it should never have come to this point. When the assemblyman, one of 150 state legislators, started his mayoral bid in October 2024, not many had known him, and in reality, barely anyone even paid attention.

Cuomo, by contrast, entered smoothly into the race in March 2025 and became the immediate frontrunner. He was the big beast who seemingly held every edge. The classic political insider, he had wed a Kennedy and worked in Bill Clinton’s administration. He became New York governor in 2011, seventeen years after his father, Mario Cuomo, left office from the identical role.

Mamdani, who was elected to the New York state assembly in recently, does not have the comparable background. But his dedication to providing free buses and affordable child services – along with the rent control promise – offer a more positive vision of the future than Cuomo’s dire warnings about “mayhem” and unfettered crime, and his vow to hire more police officers.

Recent Challenges

Nevertheless, the candidate has faced some challenges in the final phase, after video surfaced appearing to show him suggesting the New York police department and the Israel Defense Forces were intertwined.

“We have to make clear that when the pressure of the police is on your throat, it’s been influenced by the IDF,” the candidate 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 engaging in atrocities in the Palestinian territory, indicated he was criticizing cooperative programs between the NYPD and Israeli forces.

Powerful Moment

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

The progressive responded to the independent's 9/11 remarks in an heartfelt recording. In it, the candidate remembered how, when he first ran for state assembly, a Muslim uncle advised 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 city. That it is in those shadows alone where followers of Islam could express their true selves, and that if we were to step out from those shadows, then it is in those shadows that we must set aside our beliefs.”

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