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Residents of the Big Apple will discover who will be their next mayor this election day, in a contest that will decide who governs and protects the country's largest city at a time when Donald Trump has vowed to deploy military troops to the city.

Against that backdrop, New York has experienced a mayoral election that has pitted two distinctly opposing Democrats against each other. The election has become an increasingly bitter showdown, laced with alleged racism 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 young progressive candidate whose rapid ascent and people-powered movement has attracted international attention. On the establishment side is the former governor, the former Democratic New York governor now running as an independent – and enjoying the support of ultra-rich donors and corporations.

With days to go, it is the progressive, the one-time underdog who defeated his opponent in the Democratic primary who is solidly positioned as the leading candidate. The candidate, who has run on a platform of economic justice and pledged to freeze rent for about 2 million New Yorkers, has outpaced his rival by double-digits across all surveys conducted in October, and it is very much the younger man's race to lose.

The Controversial Campaign

However, the former governor, who stepped down as governor 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 manner. He has criticized his opponent's objectives as unachievable, and in recent days chuckled along as a broadcaster made anti-Muslim comments about the candidate, who is a Muslim. Recently, Cuomo was widely condemned as racist after sharing an artificial intelligence video that featured a slew of racial caricatures and showed his opponent freeing a convicts.

It's been a particularly ugly conclusion to an election that could be key to the direction that the party, struggling in its reaction to Trump's authoritarian grabs, adopts in the near future.

Broader Consequences

If the progressive wins convincingly, the party establishment who have declined to support his bid will be compelled to address a message that has appealed to voters' frustration at inequality, inflation and the political elite. It would be hard for Chuck Schumer and the House leader not to adopt at least some of the candidate's progressive proposals about affordability, given the fresh face has created an excitement within the Democratic ranks perhaps not witnessed since Bernie Sanders ran for president in 2016.

However, if the former governor, who had been expected to sail to victory in the June primary, achieve a surprising comeback victory, it could cement the party's current model of considered, uninspiring resistance – a strategy that has angered the party base. A New York rejection of the progressive's optimistic platform could persuade Schumer and Jeffries that the best plan is to stick to the center – even as polls show the present version of the Democratic party is deeply unpopular across the country.

Voter Enthusiasm

Residents of the city appear to favor the Mamdani vision. Polls 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 digital platforms, his optimistic vision for the city and his readiness to actually venture out and connect with voters in the metropolis has drawn 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 ex-leader has resorted to ugly messaging in recent weeks.

Following extensive launching various attacks at Mamdani to see what might stick, Cuomo has narrowed his focus on targeting the candidate directly. He has labelled Mamdani, who was born in Uganda to South Asian heritage, an “extremist”, and appeared on Fox Business for an discussion with a rightwing host, where Cuomo claimed New York “will not survive” his opponent as city leader. It hit bottom last week, when the former governor chuckled and said “that’s another problem” after a radio host said Mamdani would “cheer” another terrorist attack.

Political Landscape

This strategy mirrors much of what the former president, who has deployed the military reserves to Washington DC and threatened to do the same to NYC, has said about Mamdani, and perhaps that shouldn’t come as a surprise. A set of wealthy residents, including some who donated to the Republican in the last presidential race, have pumped millions into trying to get Cuomo elected, as other powerful voices have pressured the Republican candidate to drop out from the contest.

Political Histories

For the Cuomo camp, and his wealthy backers, are concerned, it should not have reached to this. When Mamdani, one of 150 New York state assembly members, started his mayoral bid in October 2024, few had heard of him, and in reality, few even noticed.

The former governor, by comparison, entered smoothly into the race in March 2025 and became the instant favorite. He was the political heavyweight who seemingly held every edge. The classic establishment figure, he had wed a Kennedy and served in a Democratic presidency. He assumed office as New York governor in 2011, 17 years after his parent, the former governor, left office from the same position.

The progressive, who was voted in to the New York state assembly in 2020, does not have the comparable background. But his commitment to providing no-cost transit and free childcare – along with the freeze-the-rent pledge – present a brighter outlook of the future than Cuomo’s pessimistic predictions about “mayhem” and unfettered crime, and his promise to hire more police officers.

Campaign Controversies

Nevertheless, Mamdani has faced difficulties in recent days, after video emerged suggesting him implying the New York police department and the Israel Defense Forces were connected.

“We have to make clear that when the pressure of the police is on your neck, it’s been laced by the Israeli military,” Mamdani said in the recording, filmed at a Democratic Socialists of America convention in 2023. The progressive, a vocal opponent of the Israeli government who has said the country is committing genocide in Gaza, suggested he was questioning joint training exercises between the NYPD and Israeli forces.

Powerful Moment

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

Mamdani addressed the independent's 9/11 remarks in an heartfelt recording. In it, the candidate recalled how, when he first campaigned for the legislature, a family member advised to him that he did not have to disclose about his religion. It was a realization, Mamdani said, that many local Muslims had been told “again and again”: “That safety could only be found in the margins of our community. That it is in those shadows alone where followers of Islam could express their true selves, and that if we were to emerge from those seclusion, then it is in those silence that we must leave our beliefs.”

Addressing the behavior of his opponents, who has claimed Mamd