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Residents of the Big Apple will find out the identity of their next mayor this Tuesday, in a contest that will determine who runs and protects the country's largest city at a time when the former president has threatened to deploy armed forces to the city.

In this context, New York has witnessed a race for mayor that has pitted two distinctly opposing Democrats against each other. The election has turned into an acrimonious showdown, laced with accusations of racism and Islamophobia, but it is the ideological divide between the two main contenders that could have major implications for how the party performs in next year's midterm elections.

The Rising Progressive

In the progressive corner is Zohran Mamdani, the young progressive candidate whose rapid ascent and people-powered movement has attracted global notice. On the establishment side is Andrew Cuomo, the former New York governor now campaigning independently – and benefiting from the backing of ultra-rich donors and corporations.

With days to go, it is Mamdani, the one-time underdog who beat his opponent in the Democratic primary who is firmly installed as the frontrunner. The candidate, who has run on a platform of affordability and pledged to halt rent increases for about two million New Yorkers, has led his rival by double-digits in every poll conducted in October, and it is very much the younger man's race to throw away.

A Bitter Contest

Yet, the former governor, who stepped down as the state's leader in 2021 amid allegations of sexual harassment, has stated clearly he will battle to the end, and not necessarily in an above-the-belt fashion. He has trashed his opponent's objectives as unrealistic, and in recent days laughed as a radio host made anti-Muslim comments about Mamdani, who is a Muslim. Recently, the independent was strongly criticized as bigoted after sharing an AI-generated ad that featured a series of racist stereotypes and showed Mamdani releasing a group of criminals.

This represents a rather grubby conclusion to an election that could be key to the direction that the Democratic party, floundering in its reaction to the former president's authoritarian grabs, adopts in the near future.

Broader Consequences

If the progressive wins convincingly, the establishment party leaders who have declined to support his campaign will be forced to reckon with a message that has resonated with voters' anger at inequality, inflation and the establishment. It would be difficult for Chuck Schumer and the House leader not to embrace at least a portion of Mamdani's progressive proposals about economic justice, given the newcomer has created an excitement 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 win easily in the June primary, complete a surprising riches-to-rags-to-riches win, it could reinforce national Democrats' current model of considered, lackluster opposition – a tactic that has angered the party base. A New York rejection of Mamdani's optimistic platform could convince party leaders that the best plan is to stick to the center – even as surveys show the current iteration of the party is deeply unpopular nationwide.

Voter Enthusiasm

Voters in New York seem to prefer the progressive agenda. Surveys show that Mamdani supporters are much more excited 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 readiness to actually venture out and connect with voters in the city has attracted an force of over fifty thousand supporters, many of them youth or first-time voters.

Personal Attacks

However, Cuomo, 67, isn't giving up. And with the risks against him, the former governor has resorted to negative campaigning in recent weeks.

Following extensive launching various attacks at Mamdani to see what might resonate, the independent has concentrated on attacking the candidate personally. He has called Mamdani, who was born in Uganda to Indian parents, an "radical", and popped up on conservative media for an interview with Maria Bartiromo, where the candidate claimed New York “will not survive” Mamdani as mayor. It reached a nadir recently, when Cuomo laughed along and said “that’s another problem” after a radio host said the candidate would “cheer” another terrorist attack.

Political Landscape

This strategy echoes 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 group of wealthy residents, including some who contributed to Trump in the 2024 election, have pumped millions into trying to elect Cuomo elected, as other powerful voices have pressured the Republican candidate to drop out from the contest.

Candidate Backgrounds

For the his team, and his billionaire supporters, are worried, it should not have reached to this. When Mamdani, one of 150 New York state assembly members, launched his campaign for mayor in last year, few had known him, and in truth, barely anyone even paid attention.

The former governor, by contrast, entered smoothly into the contest in March 2025 and became the immediate frontrunner. He was the big beast who apparently held all the advantages. The quintessential political insider, he had married a Kennedy and served in a Democratic presidency. 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.

Mamdani, who was voted in to the New York state assembly in recently, does not have the comparable background. But his commitment to providing no-cost transit and free childcare – along with the rent control promise – present a more positive vision of the future than Cuomo’s dire warnings about “mayhem” and unfettered crime, and his vow to increase police presence.

Campaign Controversies

Still, the candidate has encountered difficulties in the final phase, after footage emerged appearing to show him suggesting the NYPD and the Israel Defense Forces were intertwined.

“We have to make clear that when the pressure of the police is on your neck, it’s been influenced by the Israeli military,” the candidate said in the recording, recorded 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 criticizing joint training exercises between the city police and Israeli forces.

Powerful Moment

As the race closes, Mamdani seems to have gained empathy and backing, however, for his reaction to his opponent's increasing rhetoric.

Mamdani responded to Cuomo’s 9/11 remarks in an emotional video. In it, the candidate recalled how, when he first ran for the legislature, a family member suggested to him that he did not have to disclose about his Muslim faith. It was a realization, he said, that many Muslim New Yorkers had been taught “again and again”: “That security could only be found in the margins of our community. That it is in those hidden spaces alone where followers of Islam could embrace their true selves, and that if we were to emerge from those shadows, then it is in those shadows that we must set aside our faith.”

Speaking to the behavior of his opponents, who has alleged Mamd