🔗 Share this article

New Yorkers will discover who will be their next mayor this election day, in a race that will decide who runs and defends the nation's most populous metropolis at a moment when the former president has vowed to send military troops to the urban center.

Against that backdrop, New York has witnessed a mayoral election that has pitted two distinctly opposing Democratic figures against each other. The contest has turned into an acrimonious showdown, laced with accusations of racial bias and Islamophobia, but it is the political differences between the two leading candidates that could have significant consequences for how the Democratic party performs in next year's midterm elections.

The Progressive Challenger

In the progressive corner is Zohran Mamdani, the 34-year-old democratic socialist whose meteoric rise and grassroots campaign has attracted global notice. Representing the old guard is the former governor, the former New York governor now campaigning independently – and benefiting from the support of wealthy contributors and corporations.

With days to go, it is Mamdani, the one-time underdog who beat his opponent in the Democratic primary who is solidly positioned as the frontrunner. Mamdani, who has run on a agenda of affordability and promised to halt rent increases for about two million New Yorkers, has led Cuomo by double-digits in every poll conducted in the fall, and it is very much the younger man's election to lose.

A Bitter Contest

However, Cuomo, who resigned as the state's leader in 2021 amid allegations of misconduct, has made it clear he will fight to the finish, and not necessarily in an fair fashion. He has trashed Mamdani's goals as unrealistic, and in recent days chuckled along as a radio host made Islamophobic remarks about the candidate, who is Muslim. Recently, the independent was widely condemned as racist after sharing an AI-generated ad that included a slew of racial caricatures and showed Mamdani releasing a convicts.

It's been a particularly ugly conclusion to an election that could be critical to the direction that the party, struggling in its response to Trump's power moves, takes in the coming years.

Broader Consequences

If Mamdani wins convincingly, the establishment party leaders who have refused to endorse his bid will be forced to reckon with a message that has resonated with Americans' anger at inequality, inflation and the political elite. It would be difficult for Chuck Schumer and Hakeem Jeffries not to adopt at least a portion of the candidate's progressive proposals about affordability, given the fresh face has generated an excitement within the Democratic ranks arguably not witnessed since the Vermont senator ran for president eight years ago.

Conversely, should Cuomo, who had been expected to sail to victory in the Democratic primary, complete a remarkable riches-to-rags-to-riches victory, it could cement national Democrats' existing approach of cautious, uninspiring opposition – a tactic that has infuriated the party base. A NYC defeat of Mamdani's optimistic platform could persuade party leaders that the wisest course is to stick to the center – even as polls show the present version of the Democratic party is widely disliked nationwide.

Campaign Energy

Residents of New York appear to favor the progressive agenda. Surveys show that his backers are far more enthusiastic about their choice than Cuomo backers, something that has been evident throughout the campaign. Mamdani's snappy videos on digital platforms, his hopeful outlook for the city and his willingness to actually venture out and meet people in the metropolis has drawn an army of more than 50,000 supporters, many of them youth or first-time voters.

Negative Tactics

Yet, Cuomo, 67, isn't giving up. And with the stakes against him, the ex-leader has turned to ugly messaging in recent weeks.

Following extensive throwing basically everything at his opponent to see what might stick, the independent has narrowed his focus on targeting Mamdani personally. He has called his rival, who was born in Uganda to South Asian heritage, an “extremist”, and appeared on Fox Business for an interview with a rightwing host, where Cuomo claimed the city “will not survive” his opponent as city leader. It reached a nadir recently, when the former governor laughed along and said “that’s another problem” after a radio host said Mamdani would “cheer” another 9/11-style incident.

Political Landscape

The line of attack echoes much of what Trump, who has sent the national guard to the capital and threatened to do the same 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 2024 election, have pumped millions into trying to elect Cuomo elected, as other influential figures have pressured Curtis Sliwa to drop out from the contest.

Political Histories

For the his team, and his wealthy backers, are worried, it should never have come to this point. When Mamdani, one of 150 New York state assembly members, started his mayoral bid in October 2024, few had known him, and in reality, barely anyone even paid attention.

Cuomo, by contrast, entered smoothly into the race in March 2025 and became the immediate frontrunner. He was the political heavyweight who apparently held every edge. The classic political insider, he had wed a Kennedy and worked in Bill Clinton’s administration. He became New York governor in 2011, 17 years after his parent, Mario Cuomo, stepped down from the same position.

The progressive, who was elected to the New York state assembly in recently, does not have the comparable background. But his commitment to providing free buses and free childcare – along with the freeze-the-rent pledge – present a brighter outlook of the future than Cuomo’s dire warnings about “mayhem” and rising criminal activity, and his promise to increase police presence.

Recent Challenges

Nevertheless, Mamdani has encountered some challenges in the final phase, after footage emerged appearing to show him suggesting the New York police department and the Israel Defense Forces were connected.

“We have to make clear that when the boot of the NYPD is on your neck, it’s been laced by the IDF,” Mamdani said in the clip, filmed at a DSA convention in recent years. The progressive, a longtime critic of Israel who has said the nation is engaging in atrocities in the Palestinian territory, indicated he was criticizing cooperative programs between the NYPD and IDF.

Powerful Moment

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

The progressive responded to Cuomo’s terrorism comments in an heartfelt recording. In it, the candidate recalled how, when he first ran for state assembly, a Muslim uncle suggested to him that he did not have to disclose about his Muslim faith. It was a realization, he said, that many local Muslims had been taught “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 seclusion, then it is in those shadows that we must set aside our faith.”

Addressing the behavior of Cuomo and Sliwa, who has alleged Mamd