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New Yorkers will discover who will be their next mayor this Tuesday, in a contest that will decide who runs and protects the country's most populous metropolis at a time when the former president has vowed to deploy armed forces to the city.

In this context, New York has witnessed a mayoral election that has matched two distinctly opposing Democrats against each other. The election has turned into an acrimonious face-off, laced with alleged racism and Islamophobia, but it is the political differences between the two leading contenders that could have significant consequences for how the party performs in next year's congressional races.

The Progressive Challenger

In the progressive corner is Zohran Mamdani, the 34-year-old progressive candidate whose meteoric rise and people-powered movement has attracted international attention. Representing the old guard is Andrew Cuomo, the ex- Democratic New York governor now campaigning independently – and benefiting from the support of wealthy contributors and big business.

As the election approaches, it is the progressive, the one-time underdog who beat his opponent in the Democratic primary who is solidly positioned as the leading candidate. The candidate, who has run on a platform of affordability and pledged to freeze rent for about 2 million New Yorkers, has led his rival by double-digits across all surveys taken in October, and it is very much the progressive's election to lose.

The Controversial Campaign

Yet, Cuomo, who stepped down as governor in recent years amid accusations of sexual harassment, has stated clearly he will fight to the finish, and not necessarily in an above-the-belt manner. He has trashed his opponent's objectives as unrealistic, and in the final stretch laughed as a broadcaster made Islamophobic remarks about Mamdani, who is a Muslim. Two weeks ago, the independent was strongly criticized as bigoted after posting an AI-generated ad that featured a slew of racist stereotypes and showed Mamdani releasing a convicts.

This represents a rather grubby end to an race that could be critical to the direction that the Democratic party, struggling in its reaction to the former president's power moves, adopts in the near future.

National Implications

If the progressive secures a clear victory, the party establishment who have refused to endorse his bid will be compelled to address a platform that has resonated with Americans' frustration at economic disparity, inflation and the political elite. It would be difficult for Chuck Schumer and the House leader not to embrace at least some of the candidate's ambitious ideas about affordability, given the newcomer has generated an enthusiasm within the Democratic ranks arguably not witnessed since Bernie Sanders campaigned for the White House eight years ago.

Conversely, should Cuomo, who had been expected to sail to victory in the Democratic primary, achieve a remarkable riches-to-rags-to-riches win, it could reinforce the party's current model of considered, lackluster resistance – a tactic that has infuriated grassroots members. A NYC rejection of the progressive's optimistic platform could persuade party leaders that the wisest course is to remain in the political center – even as surveys show the present version of the party is widely disliked nationwide.

Campaign Energy

Voters in New York seem to prefer the Mamdani vision. Polls show that his backers are far more enthusiastic about their candidate than Cuomo backers, something that has been apparent during the race. Mamdani's engaging content on social media, his optimistic vision for the city and his willingness to actually get out and connect with voters in the metropolis has attracted an army of over fifty thousand volunteers, many of them young or new participants.

Personal Attacks

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

After spending months launching various attacks at his opponent to see what might resonate, the independent has narrowed his focus on attacking Mamdani directly. He has called his rival, who was born in Uganda to Indian parents, an “extremist”, and appeared on conservative media for an discussion with Maria Bartiromo, where the candidate claimed the city “will not survive” his opponent as mayor. It reached a nadir recently, when the former governor laughed along and said “that’s another problem” after a radio host said the candidate would “cheer” another 9/11-style attack.

Political Landscape

This strategy echoes much of what Trump, who has sent the national guard to Washington DC and warned to take similar action to New York, has said about Mamdani, and perhaps that is expected. A set of billionaire New Yorkers, including some who contributed to the Republican in the 2024 election, have pumped millions into trying to elect Cuomo into office, as other powerful voices have urged the Republican candidate to withdraw from the contest.

Candidate Backgrounds

As far as the Cuomo camp, and his billionaire supporters, are worried, it should not have reached to this point. When Mamdani, one of 150 New York state assembly members, started his campaign for mayor in last year, not many had known him, and in truth, few even paid attention.

Cuomo, by comparison, entered smoothly into the contest in March 2025 and became the instant favorite. He was the big beast who apparently held all the advantages. The quintessential establishment figure, he had married a Kennedy and worked in a Democratic presidency. He became New York governor in over a decade ago, seventeen years after his parent, Mario Cuomo, left office from the identical role.

Mamdani, who was elected to the state legislature in recently, does not have the comparable background. But his dedication to providing no-cost transit and free childcare – along with the freeze-the-rent pledge – present a more positive vision of the future than Cuomo’s pessimistic predictions about “mayhem” and unfettered crime, and his vow to hire more police officers.

Campaign Controversies

Still, the candidate has encountered some challenges in the final phase, after video surfaced suggesting him implying the NYPD and the Israel Defense Forces were intertwined.

“We have to make clear that when the boot of the police is on your neck, it’s been laced by the Israeli military,” Mamdani said in the clip, recorded at a Democratic Socialists of America convention in recent years. The progressive, a longtime critic of the Israeli government who has said the country is committing genocide in Gaza, suggested 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 response to Cuomo’s escalating attacks.

The progressive responded to the independent's terrorism comments in an emotional video. In it, the candidate recalled how, when he first campaigned for state assembly, a Muslim uncle advised to him that he did not have to disclose about his religion. 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 true selves, and that if we were to step out from those seclusion, then it is in those silence that we must leave our faith.”

Speaking to the actions of his opponents, who has alleged Mamd