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Residents of the Big Apple will find out who will be their next mayor this Tuesday, in a race that will decide who runs and protects the nation's largest city at a time when the former president has vowed to deploy armed forces to the city.

Against that backdrop, New York has witnessed a mayoral election that has matched two very different Democrats against each other. The contest has become an acrimonious face-off, marked by alleged racial bias and anti-Muslim sentiment, but it is the political differences between the two leading contenders that could have significant consequences for how the Democratic party fares in next year's midterm elections.

The Progressive Challenger

In the progressive corner is the democratic socialist, the 34-year-old democratic socialist whose meteoric rise and people-powered movement has attracted global notice. Representing the old guard is Andrew Cuomo, the ex- New York governor now campaigning independently – and benefiting from the backing of wealthy contributors and big business.

With days to go, it is Mamdani, the one-time underdog who beat Cuomo in the party primary who is firmly installed as the leading candidate. The candidate, who has campaigned on a platform of affordability and promised to freeze rent for about two million New Yorkers, has outpaced his rival by double-digits in every poll conducted in October, and it is very much the younger man's election to throw away.

A Bitter Contest

Yet, the former governor, who resigned as governor in 2021 amid accusations of misconduct, has stated clearly he will fight to the end, and not necessarily in an above-the-belt manner. He has trashed his opponent's goals as unachievable, and in the final stretch laughed as a radio host made anti-Muslim comments about Mamdani, who is Muslim. Recently, the independent was widely condemned as bigoted after sharing an artificial intelligence video that included a series of racial caricatures and showed his opponent releasing a convicts.

It's been a rather grubby end to an race that could be critical to the direction that the party, floundering in its response to the former president's power moves, takes in the coming years.

National Implications

If the progressive secures a clear victory, the establishment party leaders who have refused to endorse his bid will be compelled to address a message that has resonated with Americans' anger at economic disparity, inflation and the establishment. It would be hard for the Senate leader and Hakeem Jeffries not to embrace at least a portion of Mamdani's progressive proposals about economic justice, given the newcomer has created an excitement within the Democratic ranks arguably not seen since the Vermont senator ran for president eight years ago.

Conversely, if Cuomo, who had been expected to sail to victory in the Democratic primary, achieve a surprising riches-to-rags-to-riches victory, it could cement the party's existing approach of cautious, lackluster opposition – a tactic that has angered grassroots members. A New York defeat of the progressive's optimistic platform could persuade party leaders that the wisest course is to stick to the political center – even as polls show the present version of the party is deeply unpopular across the country.

Campaign Energy

Residents of the city seem to prefer the Mamdani vision. Polls show that Mamdani supporters are far more enthusiastic about their candidate than Cuomo backers, something that has been apparent during the race. The candidate's engaging content on digital platforms, his hopeful outlook for New York and his readiness to actually get out and meet people in the city has attracted an force of over fifty thousand volunteers, many of them young or first-time voters.

Personal Attacks

Yet, Cuomo, in his late sixties, continues to fight. And with the risks against him, the former governor has resorted to negative campaigning in the final days.

After spending months throwing basically everything at his opponent to see what might resonate, the independent has concentrated on targeting the candidate directly. He has labelled his rival, who was of Ugandan origin to South Asian heritage, an “extremist”, and appeared on conservative media for an interview with a rightwing host, where Cuomo asserted New York “will not survive” his opponent as mayor. It reached a nadir recently, when Cuomo chuckled and said “that’s another problem” after a radio host said Mamdani would “cheer” another terrorist incident.

Political Landscape

This strategy echoes much of what the former president, who has sent the military reserves to Washington DC and warned to do the same to NYC, has said about the progressive, and perhaps that is expected. A set of billionaire New Yorkers, including some who donated to the Republican in the 2024 election, have invested heavily into trying to elect Cuomo elected, as other influential figures have pressured Curtis Sliwa to drop out from the contest.

Political Histories

For the Cuomo camp, and his billionaire supporters, are concerned, it should not have reached to this. When Mamdani, one of one hundred fifty state legislators, started his mayoral bid in last year, few had known him, and in truth, few even noticed.

The former governor, by contrast, entered smoothly into the contest in March 2025 and became the instant favorite. He was the political heavyweight who apparently held all the advantages. The classic establishment figure, he had married a Kennedy and worked in Bill Clinton’s administration. He became the state's leader in over a decade ago, seventeen years after his parent, Mario Cuomo, left office from the identical role.

Mamdani, who was elected to the state legislature in 2020, does not have the comparable background. But his commitment to providing free buses and free childcare – along with the freeze-the-rent pledge – offer a brighter outlook of the city's direction than his opponent's dire warnings about “mayhem” and unfettered crime, and his vow to hire more police officers.

Campaign Controversies

Nevertheless, the candidate has encountered difficulties in the final phase, after footage emerged appearing to show him implying the NYPD and the IDF were connected.

“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 recording, filmed at a Democratic Socialists of America convention in 2023. Mamdani, 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 city police and IDF.

Emotional Response

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

Mamdani responded to Cuomo’s 9/11 remarks in an emotional video. In it, the candidate remembered how, when he first ran for state assembly, a family member suggested to him that he did not have to tell people about his Muslim faith. It was a realization, he said, that many local Muslims had been taught “again and again”: “That safety could only be found in the shadows of our city. That it is in those hidden spaces alone where Muslims could embrace their true selves, and that if we were to step out from those seclusion, then it is in those silence that we must leave our beliefs.”

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