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Residents of the Big Apple will discover the identity of their next mayor this election day, in a contest that will determine who runs and defends the country's largest city at a moment when the former president has vowed to deploy military troops to the city.

In this context, New York has experienced a mayoral election that has pitted two distinctly opposing Democratic figures against one another. The contest has turned into an increasingly bitter showdown, laced with alleged racism and Islamophobia, but it is the political differences between the two leading contenders that could have major implications for how the Democratic party fares in next year's congressional races.

The Rising Progressive

In the progressive corner is Zohran Mamdani, the 34-year-old progressive candidate whose meteoric rise and people-powered movement has brought international attention. On the establishment side is Andrew Cuomo, the ex- Democratic New York governor now campaigning independently – and benefiting from the backing of ultra-rich donors and big business.

As the election approaches, it is Mamdani, the one-time underdog who beat Cuomo in the party primary who is firmly installed as the frontrunner. The candidate, who has run on a agenda of affordability and pledged to halt rent increases for about two million city residents, has led Cuomo by significant margins in every poll conducted in the fall, and it is very much the younger man's race to throw away.

The Controversial Campaign

However, Cuomo, who stepped down as governor in recent years amid accusations of sexual harassment, has made it clear he will battle to the end, and not necessarily in an fair fashion. He has criticized his opponent's goals as unachievable, and in recent days chuckled along as a radio host made anti-Muslim comments about Mamdani, who is Muslim. Recently, Cuomo was widely condemned as bigoted after sharing an AI-generated ad that included a slew of racial caricatures and showed Mamdani releasing a convicts.

It's been a particularly ugly conclusion to an election that could be key to the direction that the party, floundering in its reaction to the former president's power moves, takes in the near future.

Broader Consequences

If Mamdani secures a clear victory, the establishment party leaders who have refused to endorse his bid will be forced to reckon with a platform that has resonated with voters' anger at inequality, inflation and the establishment. It would be difficult for the Senate leader and the House leader not to adopt at least a portion of Mamdani's ambitious ideas about affordability, given the fresh face has created an enthusiasm within the party arguably not witnessed since Bernie Sanders campaigned for the White House eight years ago.

However, if Cuomo, who had been expected to win easily in the June primary, complete a remarkable comeback victory, it could reinforce the party's current model of cautious, lackluster opposition – a tactic that has angered grassroots members. A NYC rejection of Mamdani's progressive, positive message could persuade Schumer and Jeffries that the wisest course is to stick to the center – even as polls show the current iteration of the party is deeply unpopular nationwide.

Voter Enthusiasm

Voters in the city appear to favor the progressive agenda. Polls show that his backers are far more enthusiastic about their choice than Cuomo backers, something that has been evident throughout the campaign. Mamdani's snappy videos on digital platforms, his hopeful outlook for New York and his willingness to actually get out and meet people in the metropolis has drawn an army of more than 50,000 volunteers, many of them young or first-time voters.

Personal Attacks

However, Cuomo, 67, isn't giving up. And with the stakes against him, the former governor has turned to ugly messaging in recent weeks.

After spending months throwing basically everything at his opponent to see what might stick, the independent has concentrated on attacking the candidate personally. He has labelled his rival, who was born in Uganda to South Asian heritage, an “extremist”, and popped up on Fox Business for an discussion with a rightwing host, where Cuomo asserted 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 terrorist incident.

Campaign Dynamics

The line of attack echoes much of what the former president, who has deployed the national guard to Washington DC and threatened to do the same to New York, has said about Mamdani, and maybe that is expected. A group of billionaire New Yorkers, including some who donated to the Republican in the last presidential race, have invested heavily into trying to elect the independent into office, as other influential figures have urged Curtis Sliwa to drop out from the contest.

Political Histories

For the his team, and his wealthy backers, are worried, it should never have come to this. When the assemblyman, one of 150 New York state assembly members, started his campaign for mayor in last year, not many had known him, and in reality, few even noticed.

The former governor, by comparison, eased his way into the contest in March 2025 and became the immediate frontrunner. He was the political heavyweight who seemingly held all the advantages. The quintessential establishment figure, he had wed a political dynasty member and worked in a Democratic presidency. He assumed office as New York governor in 2011, seventeen years after his parent, Mario Cuomo, stepped down from the same position.

The progressive, who was elected to the state legislature in recently, does not have the same political heritage. But his dedication to providing free buses and free childcare – along with the freeze-the-rent pledge – present a brighter outlook of the city's direction than his opponent's pessimistic predictions about “mayhem” and rising criminal activity, and his vow to hire more police officers.

Recent Challenges

Still, the candidate has encountered difficulties in the final phase, after footage surfaced appearing to show him suggesting the New York police department and the Israel Defense Forces were intertwined.

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

Emotional Response

With the election nearing, Mamdani seems to have gained empathy and backing, however, for his response to Cuomo’s increasing rhetoric.

Mamdani responded to Cuomo’s terrorism comments in an emotional video. In it, the candidate recalled how, when he first campaigned for state assembly, a Muslim uncle suggested to him that he did not have to disclose about his religion. It was a realization, he said, that many Muslim New Yorkers had been told “again and again”: “That security could only be found in the shadows of our community. That it is in those hidden spaces alone where Muslims could express their true selves, and that if we were to step out from those shadows, then it is in those shadows that we must leave our faith.”

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