🔗 Share this article

New Yorkers will learn the identity of their next mayor this election day, in a race that will decide who runs and defends the nation's largest city at a moment when the former president has threatened to send armed forces to the city.

Against that backdrop, New York has experienced a race for mayor that has pitted two distinctly opposing Democrats against each other. The election has become an increasingly bitter face-off, laced with alleged racial bias and anti-Muslim sentiment, but it is the ideological divide between the two main contenders that could have significant consequences for how the Democratic party fares in next year's midterm elections.

The Rising Progressive

On the left side is Zohran Mamdani, the young democratic socialist whose rapid ascent and people-powered movement has brought global notice. 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 corporations.

With days to go, it is Mamdani, the former longshot who beat his opponent in the party primary who is solidly positioned as the leading candidate. Mamdani, who has run on a platform of affordability and pledged to freeze rent for about 2 million city residents, has led Cuomo by double-digits in every poll conducted in October, and it is very much the progressive's race to lose.

The Controversial Campaign

Yet, the former governor, who stepped down as the state's leader in recent years amid allegations of misconduct, has made it clear he will battle to the finish, and not necessarily in an above-the-belt manner. He has criticized Mamdani's goals as unachievable, and in the final stretch chuckled along as a radio host made Islamophobic remarks about the candidate, who is a Muslim. Two weeks ago, Cuomo was widely condemned as bigoted after posting an AI-generated ad that included a slew of racial caricatures and showed his opponent freeing a group of criminals.

It's been a rather grubby conclusion to an election that could be key to the direction that the party, floundering in its reaction to the former president's authoritarian grabs, adopts in the coming years.

National Implications

If Mamdani secures a clear victory, the party establishment who have declined to support his campaign will be forced to reckon with a message that has resonated with 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 some of Mamdani's progressive proposals about economic justice, given the fresh face has created an excitement within the Democratic ranks arguably not witnessed since the Vermont senator ran for president in 2016.

However, if the former governor, who had been expected to sail to victory in the Democratic primary, achieve a remarkable comeback win, it could reinforce national Democrats' current model of cautious, lackluster opposition – a tactic that has angered grassroots members. A NYC defeat of Mamdani's progressive, positive message could convince Schumer and Jeffries that the wisest course is to stick to the center – even as surveys show the current iteration of the Democratic party is deeply unpopular nationwide.

Voter Enthusiasm

Voters in New York seem to prefer the progressive agenda. Surveys show that Mamdani supporters are far more enthusiastic about their candidate than Cuomo backers, something that has been apparent throughout the campaign. Mamdani's engaging content on social media, his optimistic vision for New York and his readiness to actually venture out and meet people in the metropolis has attracted an force of over fifty thousand volunteers, many of them young or first-time voters.

Personal Attacks

Yet, Cuomo, in his late sixties, isn't giving up. And with the stakes stacked against him, the ex-leader has resorted to negative campaigning in recent weeks.

Following extensive launching various attacks at his opponent to see what might stick, the independent has narrowed his focus on attacking Mamdani personally. He has labelled his rival, who was born in Uganda to South Asian heritage, an "radical", and popped up on conservative media for an interview with a rightwing host, where Cuomo claimed New York “will not survive” his opponent as city leader. It hit bottom recently, when the former governor laughed along and said “that’s another problem” after a radio host said Mamdani would “cheer” another 9/11-style attack.

Campaign Dynamics

The line of attack mirrors much of what Trump, who has deployed the national guard to the capital and warned to do the same to NYC, has said about the progressive, and perhaps that is expected. A set of billionaire New Yorkers, including some who contributed to Trump in the 2024 election, have pumped millions into trying to get Cuomo into office, as other influential figures have urged the Republican candidate to withdraw from the contest.

Political Histories

As far as the his team, and his wealthy backers, are concerned, it should never have come to this point. When the assemblyman, one of one hundred fifty New York state assembly members, started his mayoral bid in October 2024, few had heard of him, and in reality, barely anyone even paid attention.

The former governor, by contrast, entered smoothly into the contest in this year and became the immediate frontrunner. He was the big beast who seemingly held all the advantages. The quintessential political insider, he had wed a Kennedy and served in a Democratic presidency. He became New York governor in 2011, seventeen years after his parent, the former governor, left office from the identical role.

Mamdani, who was elected to the state legislature in recently, does not have the comparable background. But his commitment to providing free buses and affordable child services – along with the freeze-the-rent pledge – present a brighter outlook of the city's direction than Cuomo’s dire warnings about “mayhem” and unfettered crime, and his vow to increase police presence.

Campaign Controversies

Nevertheless, the candidate has faced difficulties in recent days, after video surfaced suggesting him suggesting 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 Israeli military,” the candidate said in the recording, filmed at a DSA convention in recent years. Mamdani, a vocal opponent of Israel who has said the nation is committing genocide in the Palestinian territory, suggested he was questioning cooperative programs between the city police and Israeli forces.

Powerful Moment

With the election nearing, Mamdani appears to have won empathy and backing, however, for his reaction to Cuomo’s increasing rhetoric.

The progressive responded to the independent's terrorism comments in an emotional video. In it, the candidate remembered how, when he first campaigned for state assembly, a Muslim uncle advised to him that he did not have to tell people about his Muslim faith. It was a realization, Mamdani said, that many local Muslims had been taught “again and again”: “That safety could only be found in the margins of our community. That it is in those hidden spaces alone where Muslims 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 set aside our beliefs.”

Speaking to the behavior of Cuomo and Sliwa, who has claimed Mamd