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Residents of the Big Apple will discover the identity of their next mayor this election day, in a race that will decide who governs and defends the nation's most populous metropolis at a time when Donald Trump has threatened to deploy military troops to the city.

In this context, New York has experienced a race for mayor that has matched two very different Democratic figures against each other. The election has turned into an increasingly bitter face-off, laced with alleged racism and anti-Muslim sentiment, but it is the ideological divide between the two leading contenders that could have significant consequences for how the Democratic party fares in next year's midterm elections.

The Rising Progressive

On the left side is the democratic socialist, the young progressive candidate whose rapid ascent and people-powered movement has brought global notice. Representing the old guard is the former governor, the ex- New York governor now running as an independent – and benefiting from the backing of wealthy contributors and big business.

With days to go, it is the progressive, the one-time underdog who beat his opponent in the Democratic primary who is firmly installed as the leading candidate. The candidate, who has run on a agenda of affordability and promised to halt rent increases for about two million New Yorkers, has outpaced Cuomo by double-digits across all surveys conducted in October, and it is very much the progressive's race to lose.

A Bitter Contest

Yet, the former governor, who resigned as governor in recent years amid accusations of sexual harassment, has made it clear he will fight to the end, and not necessarily in an fair fashion. He has trashed his opponent's objectives as unrealistic, and in the final stretch chuckled along as a radio host made anti-Muslim comments about Mamdani, who is a Muslim. Recently, the independent was widely condemned as racist after posting an AI-generated ad that included a series of racist stereotypes and showed his opponent freeing a group of criminals.

This represents a particularly ugly end to an election that could be key to the path that the Democratic party, struggling 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 party establishment who have refused to endorse his bid will be forced to reckon with a platform that has appealed to Americans' anger at inequality, inflation and the establishment. It would be hard for Chuck Schumer and Hakeem Jeffries not to embrace at least a portion of the candidate's ambitious ideas about economic justice, given the newcomer has created an excitement within the Democratic ranks arguably not seen since Bernie Sanders campaigned for the White House in 2016.

Conversely, if the former governor, who had been predicted to sail to victory in the June primary, complete a remarkable comeback victory, it could cement the party's existing approach of considered, lackluster opposition – a strategy that has infuriated the party base. A New York rejection of the progressive's optimistic platform could persuade Schumer and Jeffries that the wisest course is to remain in the center – even as surveys show the present version of the Democratic party is deeply unpopular across the country.

Campaign Energy

Voters in the city appear to favor the Mamdani vision. Polls show that Mamdani supporters are much more excited about their choice than his opponent's supporters, something that has been evident throughout the campaign. Mamdani's snappy videos on digital platforms, his optimistic vision for the city and his willingness to actually get out and meet people in the metropolis has attracted an army of over fifty thousand supporters, many of them youth or first-time voters.

Personal Attacks

However, Cuomo, in his late sixties, continues to fight. And with the stakes stacked against him, the former governor has resorted to ugly messaging in recent weeks.

Following extensive launching various attacks at Mamdani to see what might stick, the independent has narrowed his focus on attacking Mamdani personally. He has called his rival, who was of Ugandan origin to South Asian heritage, an "radical", and appeared on Fox Business for an interview with a rightwing host, where Cuomo asserted the city “will not survive” Mamdani as mayor. It reached a nadir last week, when the former governor laughed along and said “that’s another problem” after a broadcaster said the candidate would “cheer” another terrorist incident.

Political Landscape

This strategy mirrors much of what Trump, who has deployed the military reserves to Washington DC and threatened to take similar action to NYC, has said about the progressive, and maybe that shouldn’t come as a surprise. A set of billionaire New Yorkers, including some who donated to the Republican in the last presidential race, have invested heavily into trying to elect the independent into office, as other influential figures have urged the Republican candidate to withdraw from the race.

Political Histories

As far as the Cuomo camp, and his billionaire supporters, are worried, it should never have come to this point. When Mamdani, one of one hundred fifty New York state assembly members, launched his mayoral bid in October 2024, few had heard of him, and in reality, barely anyone even paid attention.

The former governor, by comparison, eased his way into the contest in March 2025 and became the immediate frontrunner. He was the big beast who seemingly held every edge. The classic political insider, he had wed a Kennedy and worked in a Democratic presidency. He became New York governor in over a decade ago, seventeen years after his father, the former governor, stepped down from the identical role.

The progressive, who was voted in to the New York state assembly in 2020, does not have the same political heritage. But his commitment to providing no-cost transit and affordable child services – along with the rent control promise – offer 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.

Campaign Controversies

Still, Mamdani has encountered difficulties in the final phase, after video surfaced suggesting him suggesting the NYPD and the Israel Defense Forces were connected.

“We have to make clear that when the boot of the police is on your neck, it’s been laced by the IDF,” the candidate said in the clip, filmed at a DSA convention in 2023. Mamdani, a longtime critic of Israel who has said the country is engaging in atrocities in Gaza, indicated he was criticizing cooperative programs between the city police and IDF.

Emotional Response

With the election nearing, the candidate appears to have won sympathy and support, however, for his response to Cuomo’s escalating attacks.

Mamdani addressed Cuomo’s 9/11 remarks in an heartfelt recording. In it, Mamdani recalled how, when he first campaigned for the legislature, a family member suggested to him that he did not have to disclose about his religion. It was a lesson, he said, that many local Muslims had been told “again and again”: “That safety could only be found in the shadows of our community. That it is in those hidden spaces alone where followers of Islam could express their true selves, and that if we were to step out from those seclusion, then it is in those shadows that we must set aside our faith.”

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