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Residents of the Big Apple will learn who will be their new city leader this Tuesday, in a race that will decide who governs and protects the nation's most populous metropolis at a time when the former president has vowed to deploy armed forces to the urban center.

In this context, New York has witnessed a mayoral election that has pitted two distinctly opposing Democrats against each other. The contest has turned into an acrimonious showdown, marked by accusations of racial bias and Islamophobia, but it is the ideological divide between the two main contenders that could have significant consequences for how the Democratic party performs in next year's midterm elections.

The Rising Progressive

In the progressive corner is the democratic socialist, the young democratic socialist whose meteoric rise and grassroots campaign has brought global notice. Representing the old guard is the former governor, the former New York governor now campaigning independently – and enjoying the support of ultra-rich donors and big business.

As the election approaches, it is the progressive, the one-time underdog who beat Cuomo in the Democratic 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 outpaced his rival by double-digits across all surveys conducted in October, and it is very much the younger man's race to lose.

The Controversial Campaign

Yet, the former governor, who stepped down as governor in 2021 amid allegations of misconduct, has made it clear 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 radio host made Islamophobic remarks about the candidate, who is Muslim. Two weeks ago, the independent was widely condemned as racist after sharing an artificial intelligence video that featured a series of racial caricatures and showed Mamdani releasing a group of criminals.

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

Broader Consequences

If Mamdani wins convincingly, the establishment party leaders who have declined to support his bid will be compelled to address a message that has appealed to Americans' anger at inequality, inflation and the establishment. It would be difficult for Chuck Schumer and the House leader not to embrace at least some of Mamdani's ambitious ideas about affordability, given the newcomer has generated an enthusiasm within the party perhaps not seen since the Vermont senator campaigned for the White House eight years ago.

However, if Cuomo, who had been predicted to sail to victory in the Democratic primary, achieve a remarkable riches-to-rags-to-riches victory, it could cement the party's current model of considered, uninspiring opposition – a tactic that has infuriated the party base. A NYC defeat of the progressive's optimistic platform could persuade party leaders that the best plan is to stick to the political center – even as surveys show the current iteration of the party is deeply unpopular nationwide.

Voter Enthusiasm

Residents of New York appear to favor the progressive agenda. Polls show that Mamdani supporters are much more excited about their candidate than Cuomo backers, something that has been apparent during the race. The candidate's engaging content on social media, his hopeful outlook for the city and his willingness to actually venture out and connect with voters in the city has attracted an army of over fifty thousand volunteers, many of them young or first-time voters.

Personal Attacks

However, Cuomo, 67, continues to fight. And with the stakes against him, the ex-leader has turned to ugly messaging in the final days.

After spending months launching various attacks at Mamdani to see what might stick, Cuomo has concentrated on attacking Mamdani personally. He has labelled Mamdani, who was born in Uganda to South Asian heritage, an “extremist”, and popped up on conservative media for an interview with Maria Bartiromo, where the candidate claimed New York “will not survive” Mamdani as city leader. It reached a nadir recently, when Cuomo chuckled and said “that’s another problem” after a broadcaster said Mamdani would “cheer” another terrorist incident.

Campaign Dynamics

The line of attack echoes much of what the former president, who has deployed the military reserves to Washington DC and warned to do the same to New York, has said about Mamdani, and perhaps that is expected. A group of wealthy residents, including some who donated to the Republican in the 2024 election, have pumped millions into trying to elect the independent elected, as other powerful voices have urged Curtis Sliwa to withdraw from the race.

Candidate Backgrounds

For the his team, and his billionaire supporters, are worried, it should never have come to this point. When Mamdani, one of 150 state legislators, started his mayoral bid in October 2024, not many had heard of him, and in reality, few even noticed.

The former governor, by contrast, entered smoothly into the race in March 2025 and became the instant favorite. He was the political heavyweight who seemingly held all the advantages. The classic political insider, he had wed a Kennedy 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 identical role.

Mamdani, who was voted in to the New York state assembly in recently, does not have the comparable background. But his dedication to providing no-cost transit and free childcare – along with the rent control promise – offer a more positive vision of the city's direction than Cuomo’s dire warnings about “mayhem” and rising criminal activity, and his vow to hire more police officers.

Campaign Controversies

Still, the candidate has encountered some challenges in the final phase, after footage surfaced suggesting him suggesting the NYPD and the IDF were intertwined.

“We have to make clear that when the pressure of the police is on your throat, it’s been laced by the IDF,” Mamdani said in the clip, filmed at a DSA convention in 2023. The progressive, a longtime critic of Israel who has said the country is engaging in atrocities in Gaza, suggested he was questioning joint training exercises between the NYPD and Israeli forces.

Powerful Moment

As the race closes, the candidate appears to have won sympathy and support, however, for his reaction to his opponent's escalating attacks.

Mamdani responded to Cuomo’s terrorism comments in an heartfelt recording. In it, Mamdani recalled how, when he first campaigned for the legislature, a Muslim uncle suggested to him that he did not have to disclose about his religion. 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 margins of our city. That it is in those hidden spaces alone where Muslims could embrace their true selves, and that if we were to emerge from those shadows, then it is in those shadows that we must leave our beliefs.”

Addressing the actions of Cuomo and Sliwa, who has claimed Mamd