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Residents of the Big Apple will discover the identity of their next mayor this Tuesday, in a race that will decide who runs and defends the nation's largest city at a moment when Donald Trump has vowed to send armed forces to the urban center.

Against that backdrop, 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 showdown, laced with alleged racial bias and Islamophobia, but it is the political differences between the two main contenders that could have major implications for how the Democratic party fares in next year's midterm elections.

The Rising Progressive

On the left side is the democratic socialist, the 34-year-old democratic socialist whose meteoric rise and people-powered movement has brought international attention. Representing the old guard is the former governor, the former Democratic New York governor now campaigning independently – and enjoying the backing of wealthy contributors and corporations.

As the election approaches, it is Mamdani, the one-time underdog who defeated Cuomo in the party primary who is firmly installed as the frontrunner. Mamdani, who has campaigned on a agenda of affordability and pledged to freeze rent for about 2 million city residents, has outpaced his rival by double-digits across all surveys conducted in October, and it is very much the progressive's election to lose.

The Controversial Campaign

Yet, the former governor, who resigned 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 fashion. He has criticized his opponent's goals as unrealistic, and in the final stretch chuckled along as a broadcaster made anti-Muslim comments 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 racist stereotypes and showed Mamdani releasing a group of criminals.

It's been a particularly ugly end to an race that could be key to the direction that the Democratic party, floundering in its response to the former president's authoritarian grabs, adopts in the coming years.

Broader Consequences

Should the progressive secures a clear victory, the establishment party leaders who have refused to endorse his campaign will be forced to reckon with a platform that has resonated with voters' frustration at economic disparity, soaring price rises and the establishment. It would be hard for Chuck Schumer and Hakeem Jeffries not to adopt at least some of the candidate's progressive proposals about economic justice, given the newcomer has generated an excitement within the party perhaps not seen since Bernie Sanders campaigned for the White House in 2016.

Conversely, should Cuomo, who had been expected to sail to victory in the Democratic primary, achieve a remarkable riches-to-rags-to-riches victory, it could cement national Democrats' existing approach of considered, uninspiring resistance – a tactic that has infuriated grassroots members. A NYC rejection of the progressive's progressive, positive message could convince Schumer and Jeffries that the best plan is to remain in the political center – even as polls show the present version of the party is deeply unpopular nationwide.

Voter Enthusiasm

Voters in the city seem to prefer the progressive agenda. Surveys show that his backers are much more excited about their candidate than Cuomo backers, something that has been evident throughout the campaign. The candidate's snappy videos on social media, his hopeful outlook for the city and his readiness to actually get out and meet people in the city has attracted an army of more than 50,000 supporters, many of them youth or new participants.

Negative Tactics

However, Cuomo, 67, isn't giving up. And with the stakes against him, the former governor has resorted to ugly messaging in the final days.

After spending months throwing basically everything at Mamdani to see what might resonate, the independent has concentrated on targeting the candidate directly. He has called 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 the candidate asserted New York “will not survive” Mamdani as mayor. It hit bottom recently, when the former governor chuckled and said “that’s another problem” after a radio host said Mamdani would “cheer” another 9/11-style incident.

Political Landscape

The line of attack mirrors much of what Trump, who has sent the military reserves to the capital and threatened to do the same to NYC, has said about the progressive, and maybe that is expected. A set of billionaire New Yorkers, including some who donated to Trump in the 2024 election, have invested heavily into trying to elect Cuomo elected, as other influential figures have pressured the Republican candidate to drop out from the contest.

Candidate Backgrounds

For 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 campaign for mayor in last year, few had heard of him, and in truth, barely anyone even paid attention.

Cuomo, by comparison, entered smoothly into the contest in March 2025 and became the instant favorite. He was the political heavyweight who seemingly held every edge. The quintessential political insider, he had wed a Kennedy and served in a Democratic presidency. He became New York governor in 2011, 17 years after his father, Mario Cuomo, left office from the same position.

Mamdani, who was elected to the New York state assembly 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 – offer a more positive vision of the future than his opponent's dire warnings about “mayhem” and unfettered crime, and his promise to hire more police officers.

Campaign Controversies

Still, the candidate has faced difficulties in recent days, after footage surfaced suggesting him implying the New York police department and the IDF were intertwined.

“We have to make clear that when the boot of the police is on your throat, it’s been laced by the IDF,” Mamdani said in the clip, recorded at a DSA convention in recent years. Mamdani, a longtime critic of Israel who has said the nation is engaging in atrocities 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 empathy and backing, however, for his reaction to his opponent's escalating attacks.

Mamdani addressed Cuomo’s terrorism comments in an emotional video. In it, Mamdani recalled how, when he first campaigned for state assembly, a Muslim uncle suggested to him that he did not have to tell people about his religion. It was a realization, Mamdani said, that many Muslim New Yorkers had been told “again and again”: “That security could only be found in the shadows of our city. That it is in those shadows alone where followers of Islam could embrace their full identities, 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 actions of Cuomo and Sliwa, who has claimed Mamd