🔗 Share this article

New Yorkers will discover the identity of their next mayor this election day, in a race that will determine who runs and defends the country's most populous metropolis at a time when the former president has threatened to deploy armed forces to the city.

In this context, New York has witnessed a race for mayor that has matched two distinctly opposing Democrats against one another. The election has turned into an increasingly bitter showdown, laced with alleged racism and Islamophobia, but it is the political differences between the two leading candidates that could have significant consequences for how the Democratic party performs in next year's congressional races.

The Progressive Challenger

On the left side is the democratic socialist, the young progressive candidate whose rapid ascent and people-powered movement has brought global notice. Representing the old guard is the former governor, the ex- New York governor now running as an independent – and benefiting from the backing of ultra-rich donors and corporations.

As the election approaches, it is Mamdani, the one-time underdog who beat his opponent in the party primary who is solidly positioned as the frontrunner. Mamdani, who has run on a platform of economic justice and promised to freeze rent for about two million city residents, has outpaced Cuomo by significant margins across all surveys conducted in the fall, and it is very much the younger man's election to throw away.

A Bitter Contest

Yet, the former governor, who stepped down as the state's leader in 2021 amid allegations of sexual harassment, has made it clear he will battle to the end, and not necessarily in an fair manner. He has criticized his opponent's objectives as unachievable, and in the final stretch laughed as a radio host made Islamophobic remarks about the candidate, who is Muslim. Recently, Cuomo was widely condemned as racist after sharing an AI-generated ad that included a slew of racial caricatures and showed Mamdani freeing a convicts.

This represents a rather grubby conclusion to an race that could be key to the direction that the party, floundering in its reaction to Trump's power moves, takes in the coming years.

Broader Consequences

If the progressive wins convincingly, the party establishment who have declined to support his campaign will be compelled to address a message that has appealed to Americans' frustration at economic disparity, inflation and the establishment. It would be difficult for Chuck Schumer and Hakeem Jeffries not to embrace at least some of Mamdani's ambitious ideas about affordability, given the fresh face has created an excitement within the party perhaps not witnessed since the Vermont senator ran for president eight years ago.

However, should 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, uninspiring opposition – a strategy that has infuriated the party base. A New York rejection of the progressive's progressive, positive message could convince Schumer and Jeffries that the wisest course is to remain in the center – even as polls show the current iteration of the party is widely disliked nationwide.

Voter Enthusiasm

Residents of New York seem to prefer the progressive agenda. Surveys show that Mamdani supporters are far more enthusiastic about their choice than Cuomo backers, something that has been evident throughout the campaign. The candidate's engaging content on digital platforms, his hopeful outlook for the city and his readiness to actually venture out and connect with voters in the city has attracted an army of more than 50,000 supporters, many of them youth or new participants.

Personal Attacks

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

Following extensive launching various attacks at his opponent to see what might resonate, Cuomo has concentrated on targeting Mamdani personally. He has labelled Mamdani, who was born in Uganda to South Asian heritage, an “extremist”, and appeared on conservative media for an discussion with a rightwing host, where the candidate claimed the city “will not survive” his opponent as city leader. It reached a nadir last week, when the former governor chuckled and said “that’s another problem” after a radio host said Mamdani would “cheer” another 9/11-style incident.

Campaign Dynamics

This strategy echoes much of what the former president, who has sent the military reserves to the capital and threatened to take similar action to NYC, has said about the progressive, and perhaps that is expected. A set of wealthy residents, including some who contributed to Trump in the last presidential race, have invested heavily into trying to get the independent into office, as other powerful voices have pressured the Republican candidate to withdraw from the race.

Candidate Backgrounds

As far as the Cuomo camp, and his wealthy backers, are concerned, it should not have reached to this. When Mamdani, one of 150 state legislators, started his campaign for mayor in October 2024, few had known him, and in reality, barely anyone even paid attention.

Cuomo, by comparison, eased his way into the race in March 2025 and became the instant favorite. He was the political heavyweight 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 the state's leader in 2011, 17 years after his father, the former governor, left office from the same position.

Mamdani, who was elected to the state legislature in recently, does not have the same political heritage. But his commitment to providing no-cost transit and affordable child services – along with the freeze-the-rent pledge – present a brighter outlook of the future than Cuomo’s dire warnings about “mayhem” and rising criminal activity, and his promise to hire more police officers.

Campaign Controversies

Still, Mamdani has encountered some challenges in recent days, after footage emerged suggesting him implying the New York police department and the IDF were connected.

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

Powerful Moment

With the election nearing, the candidate appears to have won empathy and backing, however, for his reaction to Cuomo’s increasing rhetoric.

The progressive responded to the independent's 9/11 remarks in an heartfelt recording. 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 Muslim faith. It was a realization, Mamdani said, that many local Muslims had been taught “again and again”: “That safety could only be found in the shadows of our city. That it is in those hidden spaces alone where Muslims could embrace their full identities, and that if we were to step out from those seclusion, then it is in those shadows that we must leave our beliefs.”

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