🔗 Share this article

Residents of the Big Apple will find out who will be their next mayor this election day, in a race that will determine who governs and defends the nation's largest city at a moment when the former president has threatened to deploy armed forces to the urban center.

Against that backdrop, New York has experienced a race for mayor that has matched two distinctly opposing Democrats against each other. The election has become an increasingly bitter showdown, marked by alleged racial bias and Islamophobia, but it is the political differences between the two leading contenders that could have major implications for how the Democratic party performs in next year's midterm elections.

The Rising Progressive

In the progressive corner is the democratic socialist, the young democratic socialist whose meteoric rise and grassroots campaign has brought international attention. Representing the old guard is the former governor, the former New York governor now running as an independent – and enjoying the support of wealthy contributors and corporations.

As the election approaches, it is the progressive, the former longshot who defeated Cuomo in the party primary who is firmly installed as the leading candidate. Mamdani, who has run on a platform of economic justice and pledged to halt rent increases for about two million New Yorkers, has outpaced Cuomo by double-digits across all surveys conducted in October, and it is very much the younger man's race to throw away.

A Bitter Contest

However, Cuomo, who resigned as the state's leader in recent years amid allegations of sexual harassment, has stated clearly he will battle to the finish, and not necessarily in an fair manner. He has criticized Mamdani's goals as unrealistic, and in recent days chuckled along as a broadcaster made anti-Muslim comments about the candidate, who is Muslim. Two weeks ago, the independent was widely condemned as bigoted after sharing an AI-generated ad that included a series of racial caricatures and showed his opponent freeing a convicts.

It's been a particularly ugly end to an election that could be critical to the path that the party, struggling in its reaction to the former president's authoritarian grabs, takes in the near future.

National Implications

If the progressive wins convincingly, the party establishment who have refused to endorse his bid will be forced to reckon with a platform that has appealed to Americans' frustration at inequality, soaring price rises and the political elite. It would be difficult for Chuck Schumer and Hakeem Jeffries not to adopt at least a portion of Mamdani's progressive proposals about affordability, given the fresh face has generated an excitement within the Democratic ranks arguably not seen since Bernie Sanders campaigned for the White House in 2016.

Conversely, should Cuomo, who had been predicted to win easily in the June primary, achieve a remarkable riches-to-rags-to-riches victory, it could cement the party's current model of considered, uninspiring opposition – a strategy that has infuriated grassroots members. A NYC rejection of Mamdani's optimistic platform could convince party leaders that the best plan is to remain in the political center – even as surveys show the current iteration of the party is widely disliked across the country.

Voter Enthusiasm

Residents of the city appear to favor the progressive agenda. Polls show that Mamdani supporters are far more enthusiastic about their choice than his opponent's supporters, something that has been apparent during the race. The candidate's snappy videos on social media, his optimistic vision for the city and his willingness to actually get out and meet people in the metropolis has drawn an force of over fifty thousand volunteers, many of them young or first-time voters.

Negative Tactics

Yet, Cuomo, 67, continues to fight. And with the stakes against him, the ex-leader has turned to negative campaigning in recent weeks.

After spending months launching various attacks at his opponent to see what might stick, the independent has narrowed his focus on attacking the candidate personally. He has labelled his rival, 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 asserted New York “will not survive” his opponent as city leader. It reached a nadir last week, when Cuomo laughed along and said “that’s another problem” after a broadcaster said Mamdani would “cheer” another terrorist attack.

Political Landscape

The line of attack echoes much of what the former president, who has deployed the military reserves to Washington DC and warned to do the same to NYC, has said about Mamdani, and maybe that is expected. A set of billionaire New Yorkers, including some who contributed to the Republican in the last presidential race, have pumped millions into trying to elect the independent elected, as other influential figures have urged the Republican candidate to withdraw from the contest.

Political Histories

As far as the Cuomo camp, and his wealthy backers, are worried, it should not have reached to this point. When Mamdani, one of 150 state legislators, launched his mayoral bid in October 2024, few had heard of him, and in truth, barely anyone even noticed.

Cuomo, by comparison, entered smoothly into the contest in this year and became the instant favorite. He was the big beast who seemingly held all the advantages. The classic political insider, he had wed a Kennedy and served in Bill Clinton’s administration. He assumed office as New York governor in over a decade ago, seventeen years after his father, Mario Cuomo, stepped down from the identical role.

Mamdani, who was voted in to the New York state assembly in 2020, 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 – offer a brighter outlook of the city's direction than Cuomo’s dire warnings about “mayhem” and unfettered crime, and his promise to increase police presence.

Recent Challenges

Nevertheless, Mamdani has faced difficulties in the final phase, after footage emerged appearing to show him suggesting the New York police department and the IDF were intertwined.

“We have to make clear that when the boot of the NYPD is on your neck, it’s been influenced by the Israeli military,” the candidate said in the clip, filmed at a DSA gathering in 2023. Mamdani, a longtime critic of the Israeli government who has said the country is committing genocide in Gaza, indicated he was questioning cooperative programs between the city police and Israeli forces.

Powerful Moment

As the race closes, the candidate appears to have won empathy and backing, however, for his response to his opponent's increasing rhetoric.

The progressive responded to the independent's 9/11 remarks in an emotional video. In it, Mamdani recalled how, when he first ran for the legislature, a Muslim uncle advised to him that he did not have to tell people about his Muslim faith. It was a realization, he said, that many local Muslims had been told “again and again”: “That security could only be found in the shadows of our community. That it is in those hidden spaces alone where followers of Islam could express their true selves, and that if we were to emerge from those shadows, then it is in those silence that we must set aside our beliefs.”

Addressing the behavior of his opponents, who has alleged Mamd