🔗 Share this article

Residents of the Big Apple will learn who will be their next mayor this election day, in a race that will decide who runs and defends the nation's largest city at a time when Donald Trump has vowed to deploy armed forces to the city.

In this context, New York has witnessed a mayoral election that has pitted two very different Democratic figures against each other. The election has turned into an increasingly bitter face-off, marked by alleged racism and anti-Muslim sentiment, but it is the political differences between the two main contenders that could have significant consequences for how the party fares in next year's midterm elections.

The Progressive Challenger

In the progressive corner is Zohran Mamdani, the young progressive candidate whose rapid ascent and grassroots campaign 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 ultra-rich donors and big business.

With days to go, it is Mamdani, the one-time underdog who defeated his opponent in the Democratic primary who is solidly positioned as the frontrunner. Mamdani, who has campaigned on a platform of affordability and pledged 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 progressive's race to lose.

A Bitter Contest

Yet, Cuomo, who stepped down as the state's leader in recent years amid allegations 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 unachievable, and in the final stretch laughed as a radio host made Islamophobic remarks about the candidate, who is a Muslim. Recently, the independent was widely condemned as racist after posting an artificial intelligence video that included a series of racial caricatures and showed Mamdani freeing a convicts.

It's been a particularly ugly end to an election that could be key to the path that the party, struggling in its response to Trump's authoritarian grabs, takes in the near future.

National Implications

Should Mamdani wins convincingly, the party establishment who have declined to support his campaign will be compelled to address a message that has appealed to voters' frustration at inequality, inflation and the political elite. It would be difficult for the Senate leader and Hakeem Jeffries not to adopt at least a portion of the candidate's ambitious ideas about affordability, given the newcomer has generated an enthusiasm within the Democratic ranks arguably not seen since Bernie Sanders ran for president eight years ago.

Conversely, if the former governor, who had been expected to sail to victory in the June primary, complete a surprising riches-to-rags-to-riches victory, it could cement national Democrats' existing approach of cautious, uninspiring resistance – a strategy that has angered the party base. A NYC defeat of the progressive's progressive, positive message could convince party leaders that the wisest course is to remain in the center – even as surveys show the present version of the Democratic party is widely disliked across the country.

Campaign Energy

Residents of the city appear to favor the progressive agenda. Surveys show that Mamdani supporters are far more enthusiastic about their choice than his opponent's supporters, something that has been evident throughout the campaign. The candidate's snappy videos on digital platforms, his hopeful outlook for New York and his readiness to actually venture out and connect with voters in the metropolis has drawn an army of more than 50,000 supporters, many of them young or first-time voters.

Negative Tactics

However, Cuomo, 67, isn't giving up. And with the stakes against him, the ex-leader has turned to negative campaigning 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 personally. He has labelled his rival, who was born in Uganda to Indian parents, an "radical", and appeared on Fox Business for an discussion with a rightwing host, where Cuomo asserted New York “will not survive” Mamdani as city leader. It hit bottom last week, when the former governor chuckled and said “that’s another problem” after a broadcaster said the candidate would “cheer” another 9/11-style attack.

Political Landscape

The line of attack mirrors much of what the former president, who has sent the national guard to the capital and threatened to take similar action to NYC, has said about Mamdani, and maybe that is expected. A set of wealthy residents, including some who contributed to Trump in the 2024 election, have invested heavily into trying to elect the independent elected, as other influential figures have pressured Curtis Sliwa to drop out from the race.

Candidate Backgrounds

As far as the Cuomo camp, and his billionaire supporters, are concerned, it should never have come to this point. When the assemblyman, one of 150 state legislators, started his campaign for mayor in last year, few had heard of him, and in reality, barely anyone even noticed.

Cuomo, by comparison, eased his way into the race in March 2025 and became the instant favorite. He was the big beast who apparently held every edge. The classic political insider, he had wed a political dynasty member and served in a Democratic presidency. He assumed office as New York governor in over a decade ago, seventeen years after his parent, Mario Cuomo, stepped down from the same position.

The progressive, who was voted in to the New York state assembly in recently, does not have the same political heritage. But his commitment to providing no-cost transit and affordable child services – along with the rent control promise – present a more positive vision of the city's direction than his opponent's dire warnings about “mayhem” and unfettered crime, and his promise to increase police presence.

Recent Challenges

Nevertheless, Mamdani has encountered some challenges in recent days, after footage emerged suggesting him implying the New York police department and the Israel Defense Forces were intertwined.

“We have to make clear that when the pressure of the NYPD is on your throat, it’s been influenced by the IDF,” the candidate said in the clip, recorded at a DSA convention in 2023. The progressive, a vocal opponent of Israel who has said the country is engaging in atrocities in Gaza, suggested he was criticizing cooperative programs between the NYPD and Israeli forces.

Emotional Response

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

Mamdani addressed Cuomo’s 9/11 remarks in an emotional video. In it, Mamdani remembered how, when he first campaigned for state assembly, a Muslim uncle advised to him that he did not have to disclose about his Muslim faith. It was a lesson, he said, that many Muslim New Yorkers had been told “again and again”: “That safety could only be found in the margins of our city. That it is in those shadows alone where Muslims could embrace their true selves, and that if we were to step out from those shadows, then it is in those silence that we must leave our faith.”

Addressing the behavior of his opponents, who has alleged Mamd