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Residents of the Big Apple will find out who will be their next mayor this election day, in a contest that will determine who governs and defends the nation'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 witnessed a mayoral election that has matched two very different Democratic figures against one another. The election has turned into an increasingly bitter showdown, marked by alleged racial bias and Islamophobia, but it is the ideological divide between the two leading candidates that could have major implications for how the Democratic party fares in next year's congressional races.

The Progressive Challenger

On the left side is Zohran Mamdani, the 34-year-old 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 campaigning independently – and benefiting from the backing of ultra-rich donors and big business.

As the election approaches, it is the progressive, the former longshot who defeated his opponent in the Democratic primary who is solidly positioned as the frontrunner. The candidate, who has run on a platform of economic justice and promised to halt rent increases for about two million New Yorkers, has led his rival by significant margins in every poll conducted in the fall, and it is very much the progressive's race to throw away.

A Bitter Contest

However, the former governor, who resigned as governor in recent years amid allegations of misconduct, has stated clearly he will battle to the end, and not necessarily in an above-the-belt fashion. He has criticized Mamdani's objectives as unachievable, and in the final stretch chuckled along as a radio host made Islamophobic remarks about Mamdani, who is a Muslim. Two weeks ago, Cuomo was widely condemned as bigoted after posting an artificial intelligence video that featured a series of racial caricatures and showed his opponent releasing a convicts.

It's been a rather grubby end to an race that could be critical to the direction that the Democratic party, struggling in its response to the former president's authoritarian grabs, takes in the coming years.

National Implications

If the progressive wins convincingly, the establishment party leaders who have refused to endorse his campaign will be compelled to address a platform that has appealed to Americans' anger at inequality, inflation and the establishment. It would be hard for the Senate leader and the House leader not to embrace at least some of the candidate's progressive proposals about affordability, given the newcomer has created an enthusiasm within the Democratic ranks perhaps not witnessed since the Vermont senator ran for president eight years ago.

Conversely, should Cuomo, who had been expected to win easily in the Democratic primary, achieve a surprising comeback victory, it could reinforce national Democrats' existing approach of cautious, lackluster opposition – a strategy that has infuriated the party base. A New York defeat of Mamdani's progressive, positive message could convince party leaders that the best plan is to remain in the political center – even as polls show the current iteration of the party is widely disliked nationwide.

Campaign Energy

Voters in New York appear to favor the Mamdani vision. Surveys show that Mamdani supporters are far more enthusiastic about their candidate than his opponent's supporters, something that has been evident during the race. Mamdani's engaging content on social media, his optimistic vision for the city and his readiness to actually venture out and meet people in the metropolis has drawn an army of more than 50,000 supporters, many of them young or new participants.

Negative Tactics

Yet, the former governor, in his late sixties, continues to fight. And with the stakes stacked against him, the ex-leader has turned to ugly messaging in the final days.

Following extensive launching various attacks at his opponent to see what might resonate, the independent has concentrated on targeting the candidate personally. He has called Mamdani, who was born in Uganda to South Asian heritage, an “extremist”, and appeared on conservative media 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 radio host said the candidate would “cheer” another 9/11-style incident.

Campaign Dynamics

The line of attack mirrors much of what the former president, who has deployed the military reserves to Washington DC and warned to take similar action to NYC, has said about Mamdani, and perhaps that shouldn’t come as a surprise. A group of wealthy residents, including some who donated to Trump in the last presidential race, have pumped millions into trying to get Cuomo elected, as other powerful voices have pressured the Republican candidate to drop out from the race.

Candidate Backgrounds

For the Cuomo camp, and his billionaire supporters, are worried, it should not have reached to this point. When Mamdani, one of 150 New York state assembly members, launched his mayoral bid in October 2024, not many had heard of him, and in reality, few even noticed.

Cuomo, by comparison, entered smoothly into the contest in March 2025 and became the immediate frontrunner. He was the political heavyweight who seemingly held every edge. The classic establishment figure, he had wed a Kennedy and worked in Bill Clinton’s administration. He assumed office as New York governor in over a decade ago, seventeen years after his father, Mario Cuomo, left office from the same position.

The progressive, who was elected to the New York state assembly in 2020, 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 pessimistic predictions about “mayhem” and unfettered crime, and his promise to hire more police officers.

Campaign Controversies

Still, Mamdani has encountered some challenges in recent days, after video surfaced suggesting him suggesting the NYPD and the IDF were connected.

“We have to make clear that when the pressure of the NYPD is on your throat, it’s been laced by the IDF,” Mamdani said in the clip, recorded at a DSA gathering in recent years. The progressive, a vocal opponent of Israel who has said the nation is engaging in atrocities in the Palestinian territory, suggested he was criticizing joint training exercises between the NYPD and IDF.

Emotional Response

As the race closes, Mamdani seems to have gained empathy and backing, however, for his response to Cuomo’s increasing rhetoric.

The progressive addressed Cuomo’s 9/11 remarks in an heartfelt recording. In it, the candidate 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, Mamdani said, that many Muslim New Yorkers had been taught “again and again”: “That safety could only be found in the shadows of our community. That it is in those shadows alone where followers of Islam could express their full identities, and that if we were to step out from those seclusion, then it is in those shadows that we must leave our beliefs.”

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