🔗 Share this article

New Yorkers will discover the identity of their next mayor this Tuesday, in a race that will decide who runs and defends the country's largest city at a time when the former president has threatened to send armed forces to the urban center.

In this context, New York has witnessed a mayoral election that has pitted two very different Democratic figures against one another. The election has turned into an increasingly bitter face-off, marked by accusations of racial bias and Islamophobia, but it is the ideological divide between the two leading candidates that could have significant consequences for how the 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 meteoric rise and grassroots campaign has attracted global notice. On the establishment side is Andrew Cuomo, the ex- New York governor now running as an independent – and enjoying the backing of ultra-rich donors 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 campaigned on a agenda of affordability and pledged to halt rent increases for about two million city residents, has led Cuomo by significant margins in every poll taken in October, and it is very much the younger man's race to throw away.

A Bitter Contest

Yet, Cuomo, who resigned as governor in 2021 amid accusations of sexual harassment, has stated clearly he will fight to the end, and not necessarily in an fair fashion. He has criticized Mamdani's objectives as unachievable, and in the final stretch chuckled along as a radio host made anti-Muslim comments about Mamdani, who is a Muslim. Two weeks ago, the independent was strongly criticized as racist after posting an AI-generated ad that included a series of racial caricatures and showed his opponent freeing a group of criminals.

It's been a rather grubby end to an election that could be key to the path that the party, struggling in its response to the former president's authoritarian grabs, adopts in the near future.

Broader Consequences

If Mamdani secures a clear victory, the party establishment who have refused to endorse his bid will be forced to reckon with a message that has appealed to voters' frustration at economic disparity, soaring price rises and the establishment. It would be hard for the Senate leader and the House leader not to embrace at least some of Mamdani's progressive proposals about affordability, given the newcomer has created an enthusiasm within the Democratic ranks perhaps not seen since the Vermont senator campaigned for the White House in 2016.

Conversely, if the former governor, who had been predicted to sail to victory in the June primary, achieve a surprising comeback win, it could reinforce the party's current model of cautious, lackluster opposition – a strategy that has angered the party base. A NYC defeat of the progressive's progressive, positive message could persuade party leaders that the wisest course is to remain in the political center – even as polls show the present version of the party is deeply unpopular across the country.

Campaign Energy

Residents of the city appear to favor the progressive agenda. Polls show that his backers are far more enthusiastic about their candidate than his opponent's supporters, something that has been evident during the race. Mamdani's snappy videos on social media, his hopeful outlook for the city and his willingness to actually get out and meet people in the city has drawn an army of over fifty thousand volunteers, many of them youth or new participants.

Personal Attacks

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

After spending months launching various attacks at his opponent to see what might resonate, the independent has narrowed his focus on targeting Mamdani directly. He has called his rival, who was born in Uganda to South Asian heritage, an “extremist”, and appeared on Fox Business for an interview with Maria Bartiromo, where Cuomo asserted the city “will not survive” Mamdani as city leader. It reached a nadir recently, when Cuomo laughed along and said “that’s another problem” after a broadcaster said the candidate would “cheer” another terrorist attack.

Political Landscape

The line of attack echoes much of what Trump, who has deployed the national guard 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 billionaire New Yorkers, including some who donated to Trump in the last presidential race, have pumped millions into trying to elect the independent into office, as other influential figures have pressured Curtis Sliwa to withdraw from the race.

Political Histories

As far as the Cuomo camp, and his wealthy backers, are concerned, it should not have reached to this. When Mamdani, one of one hundred fifty New York state assembly members, started his mayoral bid in October 2024, few had known him, and in truth, few even noticed.

The former governor, by contrast, entered smoothly into the race in March 2025 and became the immediate frontrunner. He was the political heavyweight who seemingly held every edge. The quintessential establishment figure, he had wed a Kennedy and served in Bill Clinton’s administration. He assumed office as New York governor in 2011, seventeen years after his father, Mario Cuomo, stepped down from the same position.

The progressive, who was elected to the New York state assembly in 2020, 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 his opponent's pessimistic predictions about “mayhem” and unfettered crime, and his promise to hire more police officers.

Recent Challenges

Still, Mamdani has faced some challenges in recent days, after footage surfaced appearing to show him implying the New York police department and the Israel Defense Forces were connected.

“We have to make clear that when the pressure of the police is on your neck, it’s been laced by the IDF,” the candidate said in the recording, filmed at a DSA convention in 2023. The progressive, a longtime critic of the Israeli government who has said the country is committing genocide in the Palestinian territory, suggested he was criticizing cooperative programs between the city police and IDF.

Powerful Moment

As the race closes, Mamdani seems to have gained sympathy and support, however, for his reaction to his opponent's escalating attacks.

Mamdani addressed the independent's terrorism comments in an heartfelt recording. In it, Mamdani recalled how, when he first campaigned for the legislature, a Muslim uncle suggested to him that he did not have to tell people about his Muslim faith. It was a lesson, he said, that many local Muslims had been taught “again and again”: “That safety could only be found in the shadows of our community. That it is in those shadows alone where followers of Islam could embrace their true selves, and that if we were to step out from those shadows, then it is in those shadows that we must leave our faith.”

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