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Residents of the Big Apple will learn who will be their next mayor this Tuesday, in a contest that will decide who runs and defends the country's largest city at a time when the former president has vowed to send armed forces to the city.

Against that backdrop, New York has experienced a mayoral election that has pitted two distinctly opposing Democrats against each other. The election has become an acrimonious face-off, marked by accusations of racism and Islamophobia, but it is the political differences between the two main candidates that could have major implications for how the Democratic party fares in next year's congressional races.

The Rising Progressive

On the left side is the democratic socialist, the 34-year-old progressive candidate whose rapid ascent and grassroots campaign has brought global notice. On the establishment side is Andrew Cuomo, the former Democratic New York governor now campaigning independently – and benefiting from the support of ultra-rich donors and big business.

As the election approaches, it is the progressive, the one-time underdog who beat his opponent in the Democratic primary who is solidly positioned as the frontrunner. The candidate, who has run on a platform of economic justice and pledged to halt rent increases for about 2 million New Yorkers, has led Cuomo by significant margins across all surveys conducted in the fall, and it is very much the younger man's election to lose.

The Controversial Campaign

Yet, Cuomo, who resigned as governor in recent years amid allegations of sexual harassment, has made it clear he will battle to the end, and not necessarily in an above-the-belt fashion. He has criticized Mamdani's goals as unrealistic, and in recent days chuckled along as a broadcaster made Islamophobic remarks about the candidate, who is Muslim. Recently, the independent was widely condemned as bigoted after posting an artificial intelligence video that included a series of racist stereotypes and showed his opponent releasing a group of criminals.

It's been a particularly ugly conclusion to an race that could be critical to the direction that the party, floundering in its reaction 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 platform that has appealed to voters' frustration at economic disparity, inflation and the political elite. It would be difficult for Chuck Schumer and the House leader not to embrace at least some of the candidate's ambitious ideas about affordability, given the newcomer has created an enthusiasm within the Democratic ranks perhaps not seen since the Vermont senator ran for president eight years ago.

However, if the former governor, who had been predicted to sail to victory in the June primary, complete a remarkable riches-to-rags-to-riches victory, it could cement the party's current model of considered, lackluster resistance – a tactic that has infuriated grassroots members. A New York rejection of Mamdani's optimistic platform could convince party leaders that the best plan is to remain in the center – even as polls show the current iteration of the party is deeply unpopular nationwide.

Campaign Energy

Voters in the city appear to favor the Mamdani vision. Surveys show that Mamdani supporters are far more enthusiastic about their candidate than his opponent's supporters, something that has been evident throughout the campaign. The candidate's snappy videos on social media, his optimistic vision for the city and his willingness to actually venture out and connect with voters in the metropolis has attracted an army of over fifty thousand supporters, many of them youth or new participants.

Personal Attacks

However, Cuomo, in his late sixties, continues to fight. 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 stick, Cuomo has narrowed his focus on targeting the candidate directly. He has called Mamdani, who was born in Uganda to South Asian heritage, an "radical", and appeared on conservative media for an discussion with a rightwing host, where the candidate asserted New York “will not survive” Mamdani as city leader. 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 9/11-style attack.

Political Landscape

The line of attack echoes much of what the former president, who has deployed the national guard to Washington DC and threatened to do the same to NYC, has said about the progressive, and maybe that is expected. A group of billionaire New Yorkers, including some who donated to Trump in the 2024 election, have pumped millions into trying to elect the independent into office, as other powerful voices have pressured the Republican candidate to withdraw from the contest.

Political Histories

As far as the Cuomo camp, and his billionaire supporters, are concerned, it should not have reached to this point. When Mamdani, one of 150 state legislators, started his campaign for mayor in last year, not many had known him, and in reality, barely anyone even noticed.

The former governor, by contrast, eased his way into the race in March 2025 and became the immediate frontrunner. He was the big beast who apparently held every edge. The quintessential establishment figure, he had wed a Kennedy and worked in a Democratic presidency. He assumed office as the state's leader in 2011, 17 years after his parent, Mario Cuomo, stepped down from the identical role.

Mamdani, who was elected to the New York state assembly in recently, does not have the same political heritage. But his dedication to providing free buses and affordable child services – along with the freeze-the-rent pledge – offer a brighter outlook of the future than Cuomo’s pessimistic predictions about “mayhem” and rising criminal activity, and his promise to increase police presence.

Recent Challenges

Nevertheless, Mamdani has encountered some challenges in recent days, after video emerged suggesting him implying the NYPD and the Israel Defense Forces 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,” the candidate said in the clip, recorded at a DSA gathering in recent years. The progressive, a longtime critic of the Israeli government who has said the country is engaging in atrocities in the Palestinian territory, indicated he was questioning joint training exercises between the city police and Israeli forces.

Emotional Response

As the race closes, Mamdani appears to have won sympathy and support, however, for his response to Cuomo’s increasing rhetoric.

Mamdani responded to Cuomo’s terrorism comments in an heartfelt recording. 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, Mamdani said, that many Muslim New Yorkers had been told “again and again”: “That security could only be found in the shadows of our city. That it is in those shadows alone where Muslims could embrace their true selves, and that if we were to emerge from those shadows, then it is in those silence that we must set aside our beliefs.”

Addressing the behavior of his opponents, who has claimed Mamd