🔗 Share this article

New Yorkers will learn the identity of their next mayor this Tuesday, in a race that will determine who runs and defends the country's largest city at a moment when Donald Trump has threatened to send armed forces to the urban center.

Against that backdrop, New York has experienced a mayoral election that has pitted two very different Democrats against each other. The election has become an increasingly bitter face-off, laced with alleged racism and Islamophobia, but it is the political differences between the two leading candidates that could have significant consequences for how the party fares in next year's congressional races.

The Rising Progressive

On the left side is Zohran Mamdani, the young progressive candidate whose rapid ascent and grassroots campaign has attracted global notice. Representing the old guard is Andrew Cuomo, the ex- Democratic New York governor now campaigning independently – and enjoying the backing of wealthy contributors and corporations.

With days to go, it is Mamdani, the one-time underdog who beat his opponent in the party primary who is firmly installed as the frontrunner. The candidate, who has run on a platform of economic justice and promised to freeze rent for about two million city residents, has led his rival by double-digits in every poll conducted in the fall, and it is very much the younger man's race to throw away.

A Bitter Contest

However, Cuomo, who resigned as governor in 2021 amid accusations of misconduct, has stated clearly he will battle to the end, and not necessarily in an fair fashion. He has criticized Mamdani's objectives as unachievable, and in recent days laughed as a broadcaster made Islamophobic remarks about Mamdani, who is a Muslim. Two weeks ago, the independent was strongly criticized as racist after posting an artificial intelligence video that included a series of racial caricatures and showed his opponent freeing a convicts.

This represents a rather grubby conclusion to an race that could be key to the direction that the party, floundering in its reaction to Trump's authoritarian grabs, takes in the near future.

National Implications

If the progressive secures a clear victory, the party establishment who have declined to support his campaign will be compelled to address a message that has appealed to Americans' frustration at economic disparity, soaring price rises and the political elite. It would be hard for the Senate leader and the House leader 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 witnessed since the Vermont senator ran for president in 2016.

However, should the former governor, who had been expected to sail to victory in the Democratic primary, achieve a surprising comeback win, it could cement the party's existing approach of considered, lackluster opposition – a tactic that has infuriated grassroots members. A NYC rejection of Mamdani's optimistic platform could convince party leaders that the wisest course is to remain in the political center – even as polls show the present version of the Democratic party is deeply unpopular across the country.

Campaign Energy

Residents of the city appear to favor the progressive agenda. Surveys show that his backers are far more enthusiastic about their candidate than Cuomo backers, something that has been evident during the race. The candidate's engaging content on social media, his optimistic vision for the city and his readiness to actually get out and meet people in the city has drawn an force of over fifty thousand supporters, many of them young or new participants.

Personal Attacks

However, Cuomo, in his late sixties, isn't giving up. And with the risks stacked against him, the ex-leader has resorted to negative campaigning in the final days.

After spending months throwing basically everything at Mamdani to see what might stick, Cuomo has narrowed his focus on targeting Mamdani directly. He has labelled Mamdani, who was of Ugandan origin to Indian parents, an “extremist”, and popped up on Fox Business for an discussion with Maria Bartiromo, where Cuomo asserted the city “will not survive” his opponent as mayor. It reached a nadir recently, when the former governor laughed along and said “that’s another problem” after a broadcaster said the candidate would “cheer” another 9/11-style attack.

Campaign Dynamics

This strategy mirrors much of what the former president, who has sent the military reserves to the capital and threatened to do the same to NYC, has said about the progressive, and perhaps that shouldn’t come as a surprise. A set of billionaire New Yorkers, including some who donated to the Republican in the last presidential race, have pumped millions into trying to get Cuomo into office, as other powerful voices have urged the Republican candidate to drop out from the race.

Political Histories

For the his team, and his wealthy backers, are worried, it should never have come to this. When the assemblyman, one of one hundred fifty state legislators, launched his mayoral bid in last year, not many had known him, and in truth, barely anyone even paid attention.

Cuomo, by contrast, eased his way into the race in March 2025 and became the immediate frontrunner. He was the political heavyweight who seemingly held all the advantages. The classic political insider, he had married a political dynasty member and worked in a Democratic presidency. He assumed office as the state's leader in over a decade ago, seventeen years after his parent, the former governor, left office from the same position.

The progressive, who was elected to the state legislature 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 – present a more positive vision of the future than his opponent's dire warnings about “mayhem” and unfettered crime, and his vow to increase police presence.

Recent Challenges

Nevertheless, Mamdani has faced difficulties in the final phase, after video surfaced suggesting him implying the New York police department and the IDF were intertwined.

“We have to make clear that when the pressure of the police is on your neck, it’s been laced by the Israeli military,” Mamdani said in the clip, filmed at a DSA gathering in 2023. Mamdani, a vocal opponent of Israel who has said the nation is committing genocide in the Palestinian territory, indicated he was questioning joint training exercises between the NYPD and Israeli forces.

Emotional Response

As the race closes, the candidate seems to have gained sympathy and support, however, for his response to Cuomo’s escalating attacks.

The progressive addressed the independent's 9/11 remarks in an emotional video. In it, Mamdani remembered how, when he first campaigned for state assembly, a Muslim uncle suggested to him that he did not have to tell people about his Muslim faith. It was a lesson, Mamdani said, that many local Muslims had been taught “again and again”: “That security could only be found in the margins 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 emerge from those shadows, then it is in those silence that we must set aside our beliefs.”

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