🔗 Share this article

Residents of the Big Apple will find out the identity of their next mayor this Tuesday, in a race that will determine who runs and defends the country's largest city at a time when the former president has threatened to deploy armed forces to the city.

In this context, New York has experienced a mayoral election that has pitted two distinctly opposing Democratic figures against one another. The contest has turned into an acrimonious face-off, marked by alleged racism and anti-Muslim sentiment, but it is the ideological divide between the two leading candidates that could have major implications for how the party fares in next year's congressional races.

The Progressive Challenger

On the left side is Zohran Mamdani, the young progressive candidate whose meteoric rise and grassroots campaign has attracted international attention. Representing the old guard is the former governor, the former New York governor now campaigning independently – and enjoying the support of ultra-rich donors and big business.

As the election approaches, it is the progressive, the former longshot who defeated his opponent in the party primary who is solidly positioned as the frontrunner. Mamdani, who has campaigned on a platform of economic justice and promised to freeze rent for about 2 million New Yorkers, has outpaced his rival by double-digits across all surveys conducted in the fall, and it is very much the younger man's race to throw away.

The Controversial Campaign

Yet, the former governor, who stepped down as the state's leader in recent years amid accusations of misconduct, has stated clearly he will battle to the end, and not necessarily in an fair manner. He has criticized his opponent's objectives as unrealistic, and in the final stretch laughed as a broadcaster made anti-Muslim comments about Mamdani, who is Muslim. Two weeks ago, the independent was strongly criticized as racist after posting an artificial intelligence video that featured a series of racial caricatures and showed Mamdani releasing a group of criminals.

It's been a rather grubby conclusion to an election that could be key to the path that the Democratic party, floundering in its reaction to Trump's authoritarian grabs, takes in the coming years.

National Implications

Should Mamdani wins convincingly, the party establishment who have refused to endorse his campaign will be compelled to address a platform that has appealed to voters' anger at inequality, inflation and the political elite. It would be hard for the Senate leader and the House leader not to embrace at least some of Mamdani's progressive proposals about economic justice, given the fresh face has created an enthusiasm within the party perhaps not witnessed since the Vermont senator ran for president eight years ago.

However, if Cuomo, who had been expected to win easily in the Democratic primary, complete a surprising riches-to-rags-to-riches win, it could reinforce the party's existing approach of cautious, uninspiring opposition – a tactic that has angered grassroots members. A New York rejection of the progressive's progressive, positive message could convince party leaders that the best plan is to stick to the political center – even as polls show the present version of the Democratic party is widely disliked across the country.

Voter Enthusiasm

Residents of the city seem to prefer the progressive agenda. Surveys show that his backers are far more enthusiastic about their candidate than Cuomo backers, something that has been evident throughout the campaign. The candidate's snappy videos on social media, his hopeful outlook for New York and his readiness to actually get out and meet people in the city has attracted an army of over fifty thousand supporters, many of them youth or first-time voters.

Negative Tactics

However, the former governor, in his late sixties, isn't giving up. And with the stakes against him, the ex-leader has resorted to ugly messaging in the final days.

After spending months launching various attacks at his opponent to see what might resonate, Cuomo has narrowed his focus on attacking Mamdani directly. He has labelled Mamdani, who was of Ugandan origin to South Asian heritage, an "radical", and appeared on conservative media for an interview with a rightwing host, where the candidate asserted New York “will not survive” Mamdani as mayor. It reached a nadir last week, when Cuomo chuckled and said “that’s another problem” after a broadcaster said the candidate would “cheer” another 9/11-style incident.

Political Landscape

The line of attack echoes much of what the former president, who has sent the national guard to Washington DC and threatened to take similar action to NYC, has said about the progressive, and maybe that is expected. A set of billionaire New Yorkers, including some who contributed to the Republican in the 2024 election, have pumped millions into trying to get the independent into office, as other powerful voices have urged Curtis Sliwa to drop out from the race.

Political Histories

For the Cuomo camp, and his wealthy backers, are concerned, it should not have reached to this point. When Mamdani, one of 150 state legislators, started his mayoral bid in October 2024, not many had known him, and in truth, barely anyone even paid attention.

Cuomo, by comparison, entered smoothly into the race in this year and became the instant favorite. He was the big beast who seemingly held all the advantages. The quintessential political insider, he had married a political dynasty member and worked in a Democratic presidency. He became New York governor in 2011, 17 years after his parent, the former governor, left office from the same position.

Mamdani, who was voted in to the New York state assembly in 2020, does not have the same political heritage. But his commitment to providing free buses and affordable child services – along with the rent control promise – offer a brighter outlook of the future than his opponent's pessimistic predictions about “mayhem” and unfettered crime, and his promise to hire more police officers.

Campaign Controversies

Still, the candidate has encountered difficulties in the final phase, after video surfaced suggesting him suggesting the NYPD and the IDF were connected.

“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 clip, recorded at a Democratic Socialists of America convention in 2023. The progressive, a longtime critic of Israel who has said the country is engaging in atrocities in Gaza, indicated he was questioning joint training exercises between the city police and Israeli forces.

Emotional Response

As the race closes, Mamdani seems to have gained empathy and backing, however, for his reaction to Cuomo’s escalating attacks.

Mamdani responded to the independent's 9/11 remarks 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 tell people about his religion. It was a realization, Mamdani said, that many Muslim New Yorkers 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 embrace their full identities, and that if we were to emerge from those seclusion, then it is in those silence that we must set aside our faith.”

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