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Residents of the Big Apple will learn the identity of their next mayor this election day, in a race that will determine who runs and protects the country's most populous metropolis at a moment when Donald Trump has vowed to deploy military troops to the city.

Against that backdrop, New York has witnessed a race for mayor that has pitted two distinctly opposing Democrats against each other. The election has turned into an increasingly bitter face-off, marked by accusations of racism and anti-Muslim sentiment, but it is the ideological divide between the two main contenders that could have major implications for how the Democratic party performs in next year's midterm elections.

The Progressive Challenger

In the progressive corner is Zohran Mamdani, the young democratic socialist whose meteoric rise and people-powered movement has brought international attention. Representing the old guard is the former governor, the ex- New York governor now running as an independent – and enjoying the support of ultra-rich donors and corporations.

As the election approaches, it is Mamdani, the one-time underdog who defeated Cuomo in the Democratic primary who is firmly installed as the leading candidate. Mamdani, who has run on a agenda of economic justice and promised to halt rent increases for about two million New Yorkers, has led Cuomo by significant margins in every poll conducted in the fall, and it is very much the progressive's race to lose.

The Controversial Campaign

However, the former governor, who stepped down as the state's leader in 2021 amid accusations of misconduct, has made it clear he will fight to the finish, and not necessarily in an fair manner. He has criticized his opponent's goals as unrealistic, and in recent days chuckled along as a radio host made Islamophobic remarks about Mamdani, who is Muslim. Two weeks ago, the independent was strongly criticized as bigoted after sharing an artificial intelligence video that included a slew of racial caricatures and showed Mamdani freeing a group of criminals.

This represents a particularly ugly conclusion to an race that could be critical to the path that the party, floundering in its reaction to the former president's power moves, adopts in the near future.

National Implications

Should Mamdani secures a clear victory, the establishment party leaders who have declined to support his bid will be forced to reckon with a message that has resonated with voters' frustration at economic disparity, soaring price rises and the political elite. It would be difficult for the Senate leader and Hakeem Jeffries not to embrace at least some of the candidate's progressive proposals about affordability, given the newcomer has created an excitement within the party arguably not witnessed since the Vermont senator campaigned for the White House in 2016.

Conversely, should Cuomo, who had been predicted to sail to victory in the June primary, achieve a surprising comeback victory, it could cement national Democrats' current model of cautious, lackluster resistance – a tactic that has infuriated grassroots members. A New York rejection of the progressive's progressive, positive message could convince party leaders that the wisest course is to stick to the center – even as polls show the present version of the Democratic party is deeply unpopular nationwide.

Voter Enthusiasm

Residents of New York appear to favor the progressive agenda. Polls show that his backers are far more enthusiastic about their choice than his opponent's supporters, something that has been evident throughout the campaign. Mamdani's engaging content on social media, his hopeful outlook for the city and his readiness to actually get out and meet people in the metropolis has drawn an army of over fifty thousand supporters, many of them youth or new participants.

Negative Tactics

However, the former governor, in his late sixties, isn't giving up. And with the risks stacked against him, the ex-leader has turned to negative campaigning in the final days.

After spending months launching various attacks at Mamdani to see what might resonate, the independent has narrowed his focus on attacking Mamdani personally. He has labelled his rival, who was born in Uganda to Indian parents, an “extremist”, and appeared on conservative media for an discussion with a rightwing host, where Cuomo asserted New York “will not survive” his opponent 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 terrorist attack.

Political Landscape

This strategy echoes much of what the former president, who has sent the military reserves to Washington DC and threatened to take similar action to NYC, has said about Mamdani, and maybe that is expected. A group of billionaire New Yorkers, including some who donated to Trump in the 2024 election, have invested heavily into trying to get the independent into office, as other powerful voices have urged the Republican candidate to withdraw from the contest.

Political Histories

For the his team, and his wealthy backers, are worried, it should not have reached to this. When Mamdani, one of 150 New York state assembly members, started his campaign for mayor in October 2024, few had known him, and in truth, barely anyone even paid attention.

Cuomo, by contrast, entered smoothly into the race in March 2025 and became the instant favorite. He was the big beast who seemingly held all the advantages. The quintessential political insider, he had wed a Kennedy and worked in Bill Clinton’s administration. He became New York governor in over a decade ago, 17 years after his parent, Mario Cuomo, stepped down from the same position.

The progressive, who was elected to the state legislature in recently, does not have the same political heritage. But his dedication to providing free buses and free childcare – along with the rent control promise – offer a more positive vision of the future than his opponent's pessimistic predictions about “mayhem” and rising criminal activity, and his vow to increase police presence.

Campaign Controversies

Still, the candidate has faced some challenges in recent days, after video surfaced appearing to show him implying the NYPD and the IDF were intertwined.

“We have to make clear that when the boot of the police is on your neck, it’s been influenced by the Israeli military,” Mamdani said in the clip, recorded at a DSA convention in recent years. The progressive, a vocal opponent of the Israeli government who has said the nation is engaging in atrocities in Gaza, suggested he was criticizing joint training exercises between the NYPD and IDF.

Powerful Moment

With the election nearing, the candidate seems to have gained empathy and backing, however, for his reaction to Cuomo’s increasing rhetoric.

Mamdani responded to the independent's 9/11 remarks in an emotional video. In it, Mamdani recalled how, when he first ran for the legislature, a family member advised to him that he did not have to disclose about his religion. It was a lesson, he said, that many local Muslims had been taught “again and again”: “That safety could only be found in the margins of our community. That it is in those shadows alone where Muslims could express their full identities, and that if we were to emerge from those seclusion, then it is in those shadows that we must set aside our faith.”

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