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New Yorkers will discover the identity of their new city leader this election day, in a contest that will determine who runs and defends the nation's most populous metropolis at a moment when Donald Trump has vowed to send military troops to the urban center.

In this context, New York has witnessed a race for mayor that has pitted two distinctly opposing Democrats against each other. The contest has become an acrimonious showdown, marked by alleged racism and Islamophobia, but it is the ideological divide between the two main candidates that could have significant consequences for how the party performs in next year's midterm elections.

The Rising Progressive

In the progressive corner is Zohran Mamdani, the 34-year-old democratic socialist whose meteoric rise and people-powered movement has attracted international attention. Representing the old guard is Andrew Cuomo, the ex- New York governor now running as an independent – and enjoying the backing of ultra-rich donors and big business.

With days to go, it is the progressive, the former longshot who beat Cuomo in the party primary who is firmly installed as the frontrunner. The candidate, who has campaigned on a agenda of economic justice and pledged to freeze rent for about two million New Yorkers, has outpaced his rival by double-digits in every poll conducted in October, and it is very much the younger man's race to lose.

A Bitter Contest

Yet, the former governor, who resigned as governor in recent years amid allegations of sexual harassment, has made it clear he will battle to the finish, and not necessarily in an fair fashion. He has criticized Mamdani's goals as unachievable, and in the final stretch laughed as a radio host made anti-Muslim comments about Mamdani, who is Muslim. Recently, the independent was strongly criticized as racist after sharing an AI-generated ad that featured a series of racist stereotypes and showed his opponent releasing a convicts.

This represents a particularly ugly end to an race that could be critical to the path that the Democratic party, struggling in its response to the former president's authoritarian grabs, adopts in the near future.

National Implications

Should the progressive secures a clear victory, the establishment party leaders who have refused to endorse his bid will be compelled to address a platform that has resonated with Americans' anger at economic disparity, inflation and the establishment. It would be hard for the Senate leader and Hakeem Jeffries not to embrace at least a portion of Mamdani's ambitious ideas about affordability, given the newcomer has generated an excitement within the party arguably not witnessed since Bernie Sanders ran for president eight years ago.

Conversely, should the former governor, who had been predicted to sail to victory in the June primary, complete a surprising riches-to-rags-to-riches victory, it could cement national Democrats' current model of considered, lackluster resistance – a tactic that has infuriated the party base. A NYC 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 widely disliked across the country.

Voter Enthusiasm

Voters in the city appear to favor the Mamdani vision. Surveys show that his backers are far more enthusiastic about their candidate than his opponent's supporters, something that has been apparent throughout the campaign. The candidate's engaging content on digital platforms, his optimistic vision for New York 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 youth or new participants.

Negative Tactics

Yet, Cuomo, in his late sixties, continues to fight. And with the risks stacked against him, the ex-leader has resorted to negative campaigning in the final days.

After spending months throwing basically everything at his opponent to see what might stick, Cuomo has concentrated on attacking the candidate directly. He has labelled Mamdani, who was of Ugandan origin to Indian parents, an "radical", and popped up on conservative media for an interview with a rightwing host, where the candidate claimed the city “will not survive” Mamdani as mayor. It hit bottom last week, when Cuomo laughed along and said “that’s another problem” after a broadcaster said the candidate would “cheer” another terrorist incident.

Political Landscape

The line of attack mirrors much of what Trump, who has sent the military reserves to Washington DC and warned to do the same to NYC, has said about Mamdani, and maybe that shouldn’t come as a surprise. A set of billionaire New Yorkers, including some who contributed to the Republican in the last presidential race, have invested heavily into trying to elect the independent into office, as other powerful voices have urged the Republican candidate to drop out from the contest.

Candidate Backgrounds

For the Cuomo camp, and his wealthy backers, are concerned, it should not have reached to this point. When Mamdani, one of one hundred fifty New York state assembly members, launched his campaign for mayor in October 2024, not many had heard of him, and in truth, barely anyone even paid attention.

The former governor, by contrast, eased his way into the contest in this year and became the instant favorite. He was the political heavyweight who apparently held all the advantages. The quintessential establishment figure, he had wed a political dynasty member and worked in Bill Clinton’s administration. He became the state's leader in 2011, seventeen years after his father, 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 same political heritage. But his dedication to providing free buses and affordable child services – along with the rent control promise – offer a brighter outlook of the future than Cuomo’s pessimistic predictions about “mayhem” and rising criminal activity, and his vow to hire more police officers.

Campaign Controversies

Still, Mamdani has faced some challenges in the final phase, after video emerged 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 neck, it’s been influenced by the IDF,” the candidate said in the recording, filmed at a DSA gathering in recent years. The progressive, a vocal opponent of Israel who has said the country is engaging in atrocities in the Palestinian territory, suggested he was criticizing joint training exercises between the NYPD and Israeli forces.

Powerful Moment

As the race closes, Mamdani seems to have gained sympathy and support, however, for his reaction to Cuomo’s increasing rhetoric.

Mamdani addressed Cuomo’s 9/11 remarks in an emotional video. In it, Mamdani remembered how, when he first ran for the legislature, a Muslim uncle advised 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 community. That it is in those shadows alone where followers of Islam could express their full identities, and that if we were to step out from those shadows, then it is in those silence that we must set aside our faith.”

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