🔗 Share this article

New Yorkers will find out who will be their next mayor this Tuesday, in a contest that will decide who runs and defends the nation's most populous metropolis at a time when the former president has vowed to send armed forces to the urban center.

Against that backdrop, New York has witnessed a mayoral election that has pitted two very different Democratic figures against one another. The contest has turned into an increasingly bitter face-off, laced with accusations of racism and anti-Muslim sentiment, but it is the ideological divide between the two main contenders that could have significant consequences for how the Democratic party fares in next year's midterm elections.

The Rising Progressive

In the progressive corner is the democratic socialist, the 34-year-old progressive candidate whose rapid ascent and grassroots campaign has attracted global notice. Representing the old guard is the former governor, the ex- Democratic New York governor now campaigning independently – and enjoying the backing of wealthy contributors and big business.

As the election approaches, it is Mamdani, the one-time underdog who beat Cuomo in the party primary who is solidly positioned as the frontrunner. Mamdani, who has campaigned on a platform of economic justice and pledged to halt rent increases for about two million city residents, has outpaced Cuomo by double-digits across all surveys conducted in October, and it is very much the progressive's race to throw away.

A Bitter Contest

However, Cuomo, who stepped down as governor in recent years amid allegations of sexual harassment, has made it clear he will battle to the end, and not necessarily in an above-the-belt manner. He has trashed his opponent's goals as unachievable, and in recent days chuckled along as a broadcaster made Islamophobic remarks about the candidate, who is Muslim. Recently, the independent was strongly criticized as racist after posting an artificial intelligence video that included a series of racist stereotypes and showed Mamdani freeing a convicts.

This represents a particularly ugly conclusion to an race that could be critical to the direction that the party, floundering in its reaction to Trump's power moves, takes in the near future.

National Implications

If the progressive secures a clear victory, the party establishment who have declined to support his bid will be forced to reckon with a message that has appealed to Americans' anger at inequality, inflation and the establishment. It would be difficult for Chuck Schumer and the House leader not to adopt at least a portion of Mamdani's ambitious ideas about economic justice, given the fresh face has generated an enthusiasm within the Democratic ranks perhaps not witnessed since the Vermont senator ran for president in 2016.

Conversely, should Cuomo, who had been expected to sail to victory in the Democratic primary, complete a surprising riches-to-rags-to-riches win, it could reinforce the party's existing approach of cautious, lackluster resistance – a strategy that has infuriated the party base. A New York rejection of the progressive's optimistic platform could convince party leaders that the best plan is to stick to the political center – even as surveys show the current iteration of the party is deeply unpopular across the country.

Campaign Energy

Voters in the city seem to prefer the Mamdani vision. Polls show that Mamdani supporters are far more enthusiastic about their choice than Cuomo backers, something that has been evident during the race. The candidate's engaging content on digital platforms, his optimistic vision for the city and his willingness to actually venture out and connect with voters in the city has drawn an force of over fifty thousand supporters, many of them young or new participants.

Negative Tactics

Yet, the former governor, 67, continues to fight. And with the risks against him, the former governor has resorted to negative campaigning in the final days.

After spending months launching various attacks at Mamdani to see what might stick, the independent has narrowed his focus on targeting Mamdani personally. He has labelled Mamdani, who was born in Uganda to Indian parents, an “extremist”, and appeared on conservative media for an discussion with a rightwing host, where the candidate claimed the city “will not survive” Mamdani as mayor. It hit bottom recently, when Cuomo chuckled and said “that’s another problem” after a radio host said Mamdani would “cheer” another terrorist attack.

Political Landscape

This strategy echoes much of what the former president, who has sent the military reserves to Washington DC and warned to take similar action to New York, has said about the progressive, and maybe that is expected. A set of wealthy residents, including some who donated to Trump in the last presidential race, have pumped millions into trying to get the independent into office, as other influential figures have urged the Republican candidate to drop out from the contest.

Candidate Backgrounds

As far as the his team, and his billionaire supporters, are worried, it should never have come to this point. When the assemblyman, one of 150 New York state assembly members, started his mayoral bid in October 2024, few had heard of him, and in truth, few even paid attention.

Cuomo, by contrast, entered smoothly into the contest in March 2025 and became the immediate frontrunner. He was the political heavyweight who apparently held every edge. The classic political insider, he had married a political dynasty member and served in Bill Clinton’s administration. He became New York governor in 2011, seventeen years after his father, the former governor, left office from the identical role.

Mamdani, who was elected to the state legislature in 2020, does not have the comparable background. But his commitment to providing free buses and free childcare – along with the freeze-the-rent pledge – offer a brighter outlook of the city's direction than Cuomo’s dire warnings about “mayhem” and rising criminal activity, and his vow to hire more police officers.

Campaign Controversies

Still, Mamdani has encountered some challenges in recent days, after footage emerged appearing to show him suggesting the New York police department and the Israel Defense Forces 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,” Mamdani said in the clip, filmed at a DSA gathering in recent years. The progressive, a vocal opponent of Israel who has said the country is engaging in atrocities in the Palestinian territory, suggested he was criticizing cooperative programs between the city police and IDF.

Emotional Response

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

The progressive responded to the independent's 9/11 remarks in an emotional video. In it, the candidate recalled how, when he first ran for the legislature, a family member suggested to him that he did not have to tell people about his Muslim faith. It was a lesson, Mamdani said, that many Muslim New Yorkers had been told “again and again”: “That security could only be found in the margins of our community. That it is in those shadows alone where followers of Islam could express their full identities, and that if we were to emerge from those shadows, then it is in those shadows that we must leave our faith.”

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