🔗 Share this article

New Yorkers will find out the identity of their next mayor this election day, in a race that will decide who governs and protects the country's most populous metropolis at a time when the former president has vowed to send armed forces to the city.

In this context, New York has experienced a mayoral election that has matched two very different Democrats against each other. The contest has become an acrimonious showdown, marked by alleged racism and anti-Muslim sentiment, but it is the ideological divide between the two leading candidates that could have major implications for how the party fares in next year's midterm elections.

The Progressive Challenger

In the progressive corner is the democratic socialist, the young democratic socialist whose meteoric rise and grassroots campaign has attracted international attention. Representing the old guard is Andrew Cuomo, the ex- Democratic New York governor now campaigning independently – and enjoying the support of wealthy contributors and corporations.

With days to go, it is the progressive, the one-time underdog who defeated his opponent in the Democratic primary who is firmly installed as the frontrunner. The candidate, who has run on a platform of affordability and promised to freeze rent for about 2 million city residents, has outpaced Cuomo by double-digits across all surveys taken in the fall, and it is very much the younger man's race to throw away.

A Bitter Contest

Yet, the former governor, who resigned as governor in 2021 amid accusations of sexual harassment, has stated clearly he will battle to the end, and not necessarily in an above-the-belt manner. He has trashed his opponent's goals as unrealistic, and in recent days chuckled along as a radio host made Islamophobic remarks about Mamdani, who is a Muslim. Two weeks ago, Cuomo was widely condemned as racist after posting an artificial intelligence video that featured a slew of racial caricatures and showed his opponent releasing a group of criminals.

This represents a particularly ugly end to an election that could be critical to the direction that the Democratic party, struggling in its reaction to the former president's authoritarian grabs, adopts in the coming years.

Broader Consequences

Should the progressive wins convincingly, the party establishment who have refused to endorse his campaign will be compelled to address a message that has appealed to Americans' frustration at economic disparity, soaring price rises and the establishment. It would be difficult for Chuck Schumer and the House leader not to embrace at least some of the candidate's ambitious ideas about economic justice, given the fresh face has created an excitement within the Democratic ranks arguably not witnessed since Bernie Sanders ran for president in 2016.

However, if Cuomo, who had been expected to sail to victory in the June primary, complete a surprising riches-to-rags-to-riches victory, it could reinforce national Democrats' current model of considered, lackluster opposition – a strategy that has infuriated grassroots members. A New York defeat of Mamdani's progressive, positive message could convince party leaders that the wisest course is to stick to the political center – even as surveys show the present version of the party is deeply unpopular across the country.

Campaign Energy

Residents of the city seem to prefer the Mamdani vision. Polls show that his backers are much more excited about their candidate than his opponent's supporters, something that has been evident throughout the campaign. The candidate's snappy videos on social media, his hopeful outlook for the city and his willingness to actually venture out and connect with voters in the city has drawn an force of more than 50,000 volunteers, 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 turned to ugly messaging in the final days.

Following extensive throwing basically everything at Mamdani to see what might resonate, Cuomo has concentrated on targeting Mamdani personally. He has labelled his rival, who was of Ugandan origin to South Asian heritage, an “extremist”, and popped up on Fox Business for an discussion with Maria Bartiromo, where the candidate claimed New York “will not survive” his opponent as city leader. It hit bottom recently, when the former governor chuckled and said “that’s another problem” after a broadcaster said Mamdani would “cheer” another terrorist incident.

Political Landscape

This strategy echoes much of what Trump, who has deployed the national guard to the capital and threatened to do the same to New York, has said about Mamdani, and perhaps that shouldn’t come as a surprise. A group of billionaire New Yorkers, including some who contributed to the Republican in the last presidential race, have pumped millions into trying to get Cuomo into office, as other influential figures have urged Curtis Sliwa to withdraw from the contest.

Political Histories

As far as the Cuomo camp, and his wealthy backers, are worried, it should never have come to this. When Mamdani, one of 150 state legislators, launched his mayoral bid in October 2024, few had heard of him, and in truth, few even noticed.

The former governor, 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 wed a Kennedy and served in Bill Clinton’s administration. He became the state's leader in 2011, 17 years after his parent, the former governor, left office from the same position.

Mamdani, who was elected to the New York state assembly in 2020, does not have the comparable background. But his commitment to providing no-cost transit and free childcare – along with the freeze-the-rent pledge – offer a brighter outlook of the future than Cuomo’s dire warnings about “mayhem” and rising criminal activity, and his promise to increase police presence.

Campaign Controversies

Still, Mamdani has encountered difficulties in recent days, after video surfaced appearing to show him implying the NYPD and the Israel Defense Forces were connected.

“We have to make clear that when the boot of the police is on your neck, it’s been influenced by the IDF,” the candidate said in the clip, filmed at a DSA convention in recent years. The progressive, a longtime critic of the Israeli government who has said the country is committing genocide in the Palestinian territory, indicated he was questioning joint training exercises between the city police and IDF.

Powerful Moment

With the election nearing, the candidate seems to have gained sympathy and support, however, for his reaction to Cuomo’s escalating attacks.

Mamdani addressed the independent's terrorism comments in an emotional video. In it, the candidate recalled how, when he first campaigned for state assembly, a family member advised to him that he did not have to tell people about his religion. It was a realization, he said, that many Muslim New Yorkers had been taught “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 embrace their full identities, and that if we were to emerge from those seclusion, then it is in those silence that we must leave our beliefs.”

Addressing the actions of Cuomo and Sliwa, who has alleged Mamd