🔗 Share this article

New Yorkers will find out who will be their next mayor this election day, in a contest that will decide who runs and protects the nation's largest city at a moment when the former president has vowed to send military troops to the urban center.

Against that backdrop, New York has experienced a race for mayor that has matched two very different Democratic figures against each other. The election has become an increasingly bitter face-off, marked by accusations of racial bias and anti-Muslim sentiment, but it is the ideological divide between the two leading contenders that could have major implications for how the Democratic party performs in next year's congressional races.

The Rising Progressive

On the left side is Zohran Mamdani, the young progressive candidate whose rapid ascent and grassroots campaign has brought international attention. On the establishment side is Andrew Cuomo, the ex- Democratic New York governor now running as an independent – and enjoying the support of ultra-rich donors and corporations.

With days to go, it is Mamdani, the former longshot who defeated Cuomo in the Democratic primary who is firmly installed as the frontrunner. The candidate, who has run on a agenda of economic justice and pledged to halt rent increases for about two million city residents, has led his rival by double-digits across all surveys taken in the fall, and it is very much the younger man's race to throw away.

A Bitter Contest

Yet, Cuomo, who resigned as the state's leader in recent years amid accusations of misconduct, has made it clear he will fight to the finish, and not necessarily in an fair manner. He has trashed his opponent's objectives as unrealistic, and in the final stretch chuckled along as a radio host made Islamophobic remarks about the candidate, who is Muslim. Recently, the independent was widely condemned as bigoted after posting an artificial intelligence video that featured a series of racial caricatures and showed his opponent freeing a group of criminals.

This represents a rather grubby conclusion to an election that could be key to the path that the party, struggling in its reaction to the former president's power moves, takes in the coming years.

National Implications

Should the progressive wins convincingly, the party establishment who have declined to support his bid will be forced to reckon with a platform that has appealed to voters' anger at economic disparity, soaring price rises and the political elite. It would be difficult for Chuck Schumer and the House leader not to adopt at least a portion of the candidate's ambitious ideas about economic justice, given the newcomer has generated an enthusiasm within the Democratic ranks arguably not witnessed since Bernie Sanders campaigned for the White House in 2016.

However, if the former governor, who had been predicted to sail to victory in the Democratic primary, complete a remarkable riches-to-rags-to-riches win, it could reinforce national Democrats' current model of cautious, lackluster opposition – a strategy that has angered the party base. A New York rejection of the progressive's optimistic platform could persuade Schumer and Jeffries that the best plan is to stick to the political center – even as polls show the present version of the Democratic party is widely disliked across the country.

Campaign Energy

Residents of New York seem to prefer the progressive agenda. Polls show that his backers are far more enthusiastic about their candidate than Cuomo backers, something that has been apparent throughout the campaign. Mamdani's engaging content on digital platforms, his optimistic vision for New York and his willingness to actually venture out and meet people in the city has drawn an army of over fifty thousand supporters, many of them youth or new participants.

Personal Attacks

However, Cuomo, in his late sixties, isn't giving up. And with the stakes against him, the former governor has resorted 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 attacking the candidate personally. He has labelled his rival, who was of Ugandan origin to South Asian heritage, an "radical", and appeared on Fox Business for an interview with a rightwing host, where the candidate claimed the city “will not survive” Mamdani as mayor. It hit bottom last week, when the former governor chuckled and said “that’s another problem” after a radio host said Mamdani would “cheer” another terrorist attack.

Political Landscape

This strategy mirrors much of what the former president, who has sent the military reserves to the capital and warned to do the same to NYC, has said about the progressive, and perhaps that is expected. A set of wealthy residents, including some who contributed to Trump in the last presidential race, have invested heavily into trying to get Cuomo elected, as other powerful voices have urged Curtis Sliwa to drop out from the race.

Candidate Backgrounds

For the his team, and his billionaire supporters, are concerned, it should never have come to this. When the assemblyman, one of one hundred fifty state legislators, started his mayoral bid in last year, not many had heard of him, and in reality, barely anyone even paid attention.

Cuomo, by contrast, eased his way into the contest in this year and became the instant favorite. He was the political heavyweight who seemingly held all the advantages. The classic political insider, he had married a political dynasty member and served in Bill Clinton’s administration. He became New York governor in over a decade ago, seventeen years after his parent, Mario Cuomo, stepped down from the same position.

Mamdani, who was elected to the New York state assembly in recently, does not have the same political heritage. But his dedication to providing no-cost transit and free childcare – along with the rent control promise – offer a more positive vision of the future than his opponent's dire warnings about “mayhem” and rising criminal activity, and his promise to increase police presence.

Recent Challenges

Still, Mamdani has encountered some challenges in recent days, after video emerged suggesting him suggesting the New York police department and the IDF were connected.

“We have to make clear that when the pressure of the police is on your throat, it’s been influenced by the Israeli military,” Mamdani said in the clip, recorded at a DSA convention in 2023. The progressive, a vocal opponent of the Israeli government who has said the country is committing genocide in the Palestinian territory, suggested he was criticizing cooperative programs between the NYPD and IDF.

Powerful Moment

With the election nearing, the candidate appears to have won empathy and backing, however, for his reaction to his opponent's escalating attacks.

The progressive addressed the independent's 9/11 remarks in an heartfelt recording. In it, the candidate remembered how, when he first campaigned for the legislature, a Muslim uncle suggested to him that he did not have to disclose about his Muslim faith. It was a realization, Mamdani said, that many local Muslims had been told “again and again”: “That safety could only be found in the shadows of our city. That it is in those hidden spaces alone where followers of Islam could express their true selves, and that if we were to step out from those seclusion, then it is in those shadows that we must set aside our beliefs.”

Speaking to the actions of Cuomo and Sliwa, who has claimed Mamd