🔗 Share this article

Residents of the Big Apple will discover the identity of their next mayor this election day, in a contest that will determine who governs and defends the country's largest city at a time when Donald Trump has threatened to send military troops to the urban center.

In this context, New York has experienced a race for mayor that has pitted two distinctly opposing Democratic figures against each other. The election has turned into an increasingly bitter showdown, marked by accusations of racism and Islamophobia, 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 midterm elections.

The Rising Progressive

In the progressive corner is Zohran Mamdani, the young democratic socialist whose rapid ascent and grassroots campaign has brought international attention. Representing the old guard is Andrew Cuomo, the former New York governor now campaigning independently – and enjoying the support of wealthy contributors and big business.

With days to go, it is Mamdani, the former longshot who beat his opponent in the party primary who is solidly positioned 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 Cuomo by double-digits in every poll taken in the fall, and it is very much the progressive's race to throw away.

The Controversial Campaign

Yet, Cuomo, who stepped down as the state's leader in 2021 amid accusations of sexual harassment, has made it clear he will fight to the finish, and not necessarily in an fair manner. He has criticized Mamdani's goals as unrealistic, and in recent days chuckled along as a broadcaster made anti-Muslim comments about the candidate, who is a Muslim. Two weeks ago, the independent was widely condemned as racist after sharing an AI-generated ad that featured a series of racist stereotypes and showed his opponent freeing a group of criminals.

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

National Implications

If the progressive secures a clear victory, the party establishment who have declined to support his campaign will be compelled to address a platform that has resonated with voters' frustration at inequality, 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 created an enthusiasm within the party perhaps not witnessed since Bernie Sanders ran for president eight years ago.

Conversely, should the former governor, who had been predicted to sail to victory in the June primary, complete a surprising comeback victory, it could reinforce national Democrats' existing approach of considered, lackluster opposition – a strategy that has angered the party base. A New York rejection of Mamdani's progressive, positive message could convince Schumer and Jeffries that the best plan is to stick to the center – even as surveys show the current iteration of the party is widely disliked across the country.

Campaign Energy

Voters in New York appear to favor the Mamdani vision. Polls show that his backers are far more enthusiastic about their choice than Cuomo backers, something that has been apparent during the race. The candidate's snappy videos on social media, his optimistic vision for New York and his readiness to actually venture out and connect with voters in the city has attracted an army of over fifty thousand supporters, many of them youth or new participants.

Negative Tactics

However, the former governor, 67, continues to fight. And with the stakes stacked against him, the former governor has turned to ugly messaging in the final days.

After spending months launching various attacks at Mamdani to see what might resonate, Cuomo has concentrated on targeting Mamdani personally. He has called his rival, who was of Ugandan origin to South Asian heritage, an “extremist”, and popped up on conservative media for an interview with a rightwing host, where Cuomo claimed New York “will not survive” Mamdani as city leader. It reached a nadir last week, when Cuomo chuckled and said “that’s another problem” after a broadcaster said the candidate would “cheer” another terrorist attack.

Political Landscape

The line of attack mirrors much of what Trump, who has sent the military reserves to Washington DC and threatened to do the same to NYC, has said about Mamdani, and perhaps that is expected. A set of wealthy residents, including some who contributed to Trump in the 2024 election, have pumped millions into trying to elect the independent elected, as other influential figures have urged Curtis Sliwa to drop out from the contest.

Political Histories

For the his team, and his billionaire supporters, are concerned, it should not have reached to this point. When Mamdani, one of 150 New York state assembly members, launched his mayoral bid in October 2024, not many had heard of him, and in reality, barely anyone even paid attention.

The former governor, by contrast, entered smoothly into the contest in March 2025 and became the instant favorite. He was the big beast who seemingly held every edge. The quintessential political insider, he had wed a political dynasty member and worked in Bill Clinton’s administration. He became the state's leader in over a decade ago, seventeen years after his father, the former governor, left office from the same position.

The progressive, who was elected to the state legislature 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 – present a more positive vision of the city's direction than his opponent's pessimistic predictions about “mayhem” and unfettered crime, and his vow to increase police presence.

Recent Challenges

Still, the candidate has faced some challenges in the final phase, after video emerged appearing to show him suggesting the NYPD and the Israel Defense Forces were connected.

“We have to make clear that when the pressure of the NYPD is on your neck, it’s been influenced by the IDF,” the candidate said in the recording, recorded at a DSA convention in 2023. Mamdani, a vocal opponent of Israel who has said the nation is engaging in atrocities in Gaza, indicated he was criticizing cooperative programs between the city police and Israeli forces.

Emotional Response

As the race closes, the candidate appears to have won empathy and backing, however, for his response to Cuomo’s escalating attacks.

The progressive responded to the independent's 9/11 remarks in an emotional video. In it, Mamdani recalled how, when he first campaigned for the legislature, a family member suggested to him that he did not have to tell people about his religion. It was a lesson, Mamdani said, that many local Muslims had been told “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 express their true selves, and that if we were to emerge from those shadows, then it is in those silence that we must leave our beliefs.”

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