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New Yorkers will find out the identity of their new city leader this Tuesday, in a race that will decide who runs and defends the country's largest city at a moment when the former president has threatened to send military troops to the urban center.

Against that backdrop, New York has experienced a race for mayor that has matched two distinctly opposing Democrats against one another. The contest has turned into an increasingly bitter showdown, marked by alleged racial bias and anti-Muslim sentiment, but it is the ideological divide between the two leading candidates that could have significant consequences 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 democratic socialist whose rapid ascent and people-powered movement has brought global notice. Representing the old guard is Andrew Cuomo, the former New York governor now running as an independent – and enjoying the support 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 solidly positioned as the leading candidate. 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 Cuomo by double-digits in every poll conducted in October, and it is very much the progressive's election to throw away.

The Controversial Campaign

Yet, the former governor, who resigned as the state's leader in 2021 amid accusations of misconduct, has stated clearly he will battle to the end, and not necessarily in an above-the-belt manner. He has trashed his opponent's goals as unrealistic, and in recent days chuckled along as a radio host made Islamophobic remarks about Mamdani, who is a Muslim. Two weeks ago, Cuomo was widely condemned as racist after sharing an artificial intelligence video that featured a series of racial caricatures and showed Mamdani releasing a convicts.

It's been a rather grubby end to an race that could be key to the path that the Democratic party, struggling in its reaction to Trump's power moves, adopts in the near future.

National Implications

Should Mamdani secures a clear victory, the party establishment who have declined to support his bid will be compelled to address a platform that has appealed to voters' anger at inequality, inflation and the political elite. It would be hard for Chuck Schumer and Hakeem Jeffries not to embrace at least some of the candidate's progressive proposals about economic justice, given the fresh face has created an enthusiasm within the party perhaps 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 Democratic primary, achieve a remarkable comeback win, it could reinforce national Democrats' existing approach of considered, uninspiring opposition – a strategy that has angered grassroots members. A NYC defeat of the progressive's optimistic platform could convince party leaders that the best plan is to stick to the political center – even as polls show the present version of the party is deeply unpopular nationwide.

Campaign Energy

Voters in New York appear to favor the Mamdani vision. Polls show that Mamdani supporters are far more enthusiastic about their choice than his opponent's supporters, something that has been evident throughout the campaign. Mamdani's engaging content on digital platforms, his hopeful outlook for New York and his willingness to actually venture out and connect with voters in the city has drawn an army of over fifty thousand supporters, many of them young or new participants.

Negative Tactics

However, the former governor, 67, continues to fight. And with the stakes against him, the ex-leader has resorted to negative campaigning in the final days.

Following extensive throwing basically everything at his opponent to see what might stick, the independent has concentrated on targeting Mamdani personally. He has labelled his rival, who was of Ugandan origin to Indian parents, an "radical", and popped up on conservative media for an interview with Maria Bartiromo, where Cuomo asserted the city “will not survive” Mamdani as mayor. It reached a nadir last week, when the former governor laughed along and said “that’s another problem” after a radio host said the candidate would “cheer” another terrorist attack.

Political Landscape

The line of attack mirrors much of what the former president, who has sent the military reserves to the capital and threatened to do the same to New York, has said about Mamdani, and maybe that shouldn’t come as a surprise. A group of wealthy residents, including some who contributed to Trump in the last presidential race, have pumped millions into trying to get Cuomo elected, as other influential figures have pressured the Republican candidate to drop out from the contest.

Political Histories

As far as the Cuomo camp, and his wealthy backers, are concerned, it should not have reached to this. When Mamdani, one of 150 New York state assembly members, launched his mayoral bid in October 2024, few had known him, and in truth, few even noticed.

Cuomo, by contrast, eased his way into the race in March 2025 and became the instant favorite. He was the big beast who apparently held all the advantages. The classic political insider, he had married a political dynasty member and worked in a Democratic presidency. He became New York governor in 2011, 17 years after his parent, Mario Cuomo, stepped down from the same position.

Mamdani, who was voted in to the New York state assembly in recently, does not have the comparable background. But his dedication to providing free buses and free childcare – along with the rent control promise – offer a brighter outlook of the city's direction than Cuomo’s dire warnings about “mayhem” and unfettered crime, and his promise to increase police presence.

Campaign Controversies

Nevertheless, the candidate has encountered difficulties in recent days, after video emerged suggesting him implying the NYPD and the Israel Defense Forces were intertwined.

“We have to make clear that when the boot of the police is on your neck, it’s been influenced by the IDF,” the candidate said in the clip, filmed at a Democratic Socialists of America gathering in 2023. Mamdani, a longtime critic of the Israeli government who has said the nation is committing genocide in Gaza, suggested he was criticizing joint training exercises between the city police and Israeli forces.

Powerful Moment

As the race closes, Mamdani seems to have gained sympathy and support, 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 family member advised to him that he did not have to disclose about his religion. It was a lesson, he said, that many local Muslims had been told “again and again”: “That safety could only be found in the margins of our community. That it is in those shadows 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.”

Addressing the behavior of his opponents, who has alleged Mamd