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New Yorkers will find out the identity of their next mayor this Tuesday, in a race that will decide who runs and protects the country's largest city at a moment when the former president has threatened to deploy military troops to the city.

In this context, New York has witnessed a race for mayor that has matched two very different Democrats against one another. The election has turned into an acrimonious showdown, marked by alleged racial bias and anti-Muslim sentiment, but it is the political differences between the two main contenders that could have major implications for how the party performs in next year's congressional races.

The Rising Progressive

In the progressive corner is the democratic socialist, the young progressive candidate whose rapid ascent and grassroots campaign has brought international attention. Representing the old guard is Andrew Cuomo, the former Democratic New York governor now campaigning independently – and enjoying the support of wealthy contributors and corporations.

With days to go, it is the progressive, the one-time underdog who beat his opponent in the party primary who is solidly positioned as the frontrunner. The candidate, who has campaigned on a agenda of affordability and pledged to freeze rent for about 2 million city residents, has led Cuomo by significant margins across all surveys taken in October, and it is very much the younger man's race to lose.

The Controversial Campaign

However, the former governor, who resigned as the state's leader in 2021 amid accusations of sexual harassment, has made it clear he will battle to the finish, and not necessarily in an above-the-belt fashion. He has trashed his opponent's objectives as unrealistic, and in the final stretch chuckled along as a radio host made Islamophobic remarks about Mamdani, who is Muslim. Recently, the independent was widely condemned as racist after sharing an AI-generated ad that included a series of racist stereotypes and showed his opponent releasing a convicts.

This represents a particularly ugly conclusion to an election that could be critical to the direction that the party, struggling in its response to Trump's authoritarian grabs, adopts in the coming years.

Broader Consequences

Should Mamdani wins convincingly, the party establishment who have refused to endorse his bid will be compelled to address a platform that has resonated with Americans' anger at inequality, soaring price rises and the establishment. It would be hard for Chuck Schumer and Hakeem Jeffries not to embrace at least a portion of Mamdani's progressive proposals about economic justice, given the fresh face has created an enthusiasm within the Democratic ranks perhaps not seen since Bernie Sanders campaigned for the White House eight years ago.

Conversely, should the former governor, who had been expected to sail to victory in the Democratic primary, complete a surprising comeback victory, it could reinforce national Democrats' existing approach of cautious, uninspiring resistance – a strategy that has infuriated grassroots members. A New York rejection of the progressive's optimistic platform could persuade party leaders that the best plan is to remain in the center – even as polls show the present version of the party is widely disliked across the country.

Campaign Energy

Residents of New York seem to prefer the progressive agenda. Surveys show that Mamdani supporters are far more enthusiastic about their choice than Cuomo backers, something that has been apparent 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 more than 50,000 volunteers, many of them young or new participants.

Negative Tactics

Yet, Cuomo, in his late sixties, isn't giving up. And with the risks stacked against him, the ex-leader 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 directly. He has called his rival, who was born in Uganda to Indian parents, an “extremist”, and appeared on Fox Business for an interview with Maria Bartiromo, where Cuomo asserted the city “will not survive” Mamdani as mayor. It hit bottom recently, when the former governor laughed along and said “that’s another problem” after a broadcaster said Mamdani would “cheer” another 9/11-style incident.

Political Landscape

The line of attack echoes much of what the former president, who has deployed the military reserves to Washington DC and warned to do the same to NYC, has said about Mamdani, and maybe that is expected. A group of billionaire New Yorkers, including some who contributed to the Republican in the 2024 election, have pumped millions into trying to elect the independent elected, as other influential figures have urged Curtis Sliwa to withdraw from the race.

Political Histories

As far as the Cuomo camp, and his billionaire supporters, are worried, it should not have reached to this. When Mamdani, one of 150 state legislators, started his mayoral bid in last year, few had known him, and in reality, few even paid attention.

The former governor, by contrast, eased his way into the race in March 2025 and became the immediate frontrunner. He was the political heavyweight who apparently held every edge. The classic establishment figure, he had married a Kennedy and worked in Bill Clinton’s administration. He became New York governor in 2011, seventeen years after his father, the former governor, stepped down from the same position.

The progressive, who was elected to the New York state assembly in 2020, does not have the comparable background. But his commitment 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 dire warnings about “mayhem” and rising criminal activity, and his vow to increase police presence.

Campaign Controversies

Still, Mamdani has faced difficulties in recent days, after footage surfaced suggesting him implying the NYPD and the Israel Defense Forces were intertwined.

“We have to make clear that when the pressure of the police is on your throat, it’s been laced by the IDF,” Mamdani said in the recording, filmed at a DSA convention in 2023. Mamdani, a vocal opponent of Israel who has said the nation is engaging in atrocities in the Palestinian territory, suggested he was criticizing joint training exercises between the NYPD and Israeli forces.

Emotional Response

As the race closes, the candidate 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, Mamdani 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 religion. It was a realization, Mamdani said, that many Muslim New Yorkers had been told “again and again”: “That security could only be found in the margins of our city. That it is in those shadows alone where Muslims could express their true selves, and that if we were to step out from those seclusion, then it is in those silence that we must set aside our faith.”

Addressing the behavior of his opponents, who has claimed Mamd