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New Yorkers will discover who will be their next mayor this Tuesday, in a race that will determine who runs and defends the nation's largest city at a moment when the former president has vowed to send armed forces to the city.

In this context, New York has experienced a race for mayor that has pitted two very different Democratic figures against one another. The contest has become an acrimonious face-off, laced with accusations of racial bias and anti-Muslim sentiment, but it is the political differences between the two main contenders that could have significant consequences for how the Democratic party fares in next year's congressional races.

The Rising Progressive

In the progressive corner is the democratic socialist, the 34-year-old democratic socialist whose meteoric rise and grassroots campaign has attracted global notice. Representing the old guard is Andrew Cuomo, the ex- New York governor now campaigning independently – and enjoying the backing of wealthy contributors and corporations.

With days to go, it is Mamdani, the one-time underdog who beat Cuomo in the Democratic primary who is firmly installed as the frontrunner. Mamdani, who has run on a platform of affordability and promised to halt rent increases for about 2 million New Yorkers, has led Cuomo by double-digits in every poll conducted in October, and it is very much the progressive's election to lose.

The Controversial Campaign

Yet, Cuomo, who stepped down as governor in 2021 amid accusations of misconduct, has made it clear he will fight to the end, and not necessarily in an above-the-belt fashion. He has criticized his opponent's goals as unachievable, and in recent days laughed as a broadcaster made anti-Muslim comments about Mamdani, who is Muslim. Two weeks ago, the independent was strongly criticized as racist after sharing an artificial intelligence video that featured a slew of racist stereotypes and showed Mamdani freeing a convicts.

This represents a rather grubby conclusion to an race that could be key to the path that the Democratic party, floundering in its reaction to the former president's authoritarian grabs, takes in the near future.

Broader Consequences

If the progressive wins convincingly, the establishment party leaders who have refused to endorse his campaign will be compelled to address a platform that has resonated with voters' anger at economic disparity, soaring price rises and the political elite. It would be difficult for Chuck Schumer and Hakeem Jeffries not to adopt at least some of Mamdani's ambitious ideas about economic justice, given the fresh face has generated an excitement within the party perhaps not seen since Bernie Sanders campaigned for the White House in 2016.

Conversely, if Cuomo, who had been expected to sail to victory in the Democratic primary, achieve a remarkable comeback victory, it could reinforce the party's existing approach of considered, lackluster opposition – a strategy that has infuriated the party base. A NYC defeat of Mamdani's optimistic platform could persuade Schumer and Jeffries that the best plan is to stick to the political center – even as polls show the current iteration of the party is deeply unpopular nationwide.

Campaign Energy

Voters in the city appear to favor the progressive agenda. Polls show that his backers are far more enthusiastic about their candidate than Cuomo backers, something that has been apparent during the race. Mamdani's snappy videos on digital platforms, his hopeful outlook for the city and his readiness to actually venture out and connect with voters in the metropolis has drawn an army of more than 50,000 supporters, many of them young or first-time voters.

Personal Attacks

However, Cuomo, 67, continues to fight. And with the risks stacked against him, the ex-leader has resorted to negative campaigning in recent weeks.

Following extensive throwing basically everything at Mamdani to see what might stick, the independent has concentrated on targeting Mamdani personally. He has called Mamdani, who was of Ugandan origin to South Asian heritage, an “extremist”, and appeared on conservative media for an discussion with a rightwing host, where the candidate claimed New York “will not survive” his opponent as city leader. It hit bottom last week, when the former governor laughed along and said “that’s another problem” after a radio host said the candidate would “cheer” another 9/11-style incident.

Political Landscape

This strategy echoes much of what the former president, who has sent the military reserves to the capital and threatened to do the same to NYC, has said about Mamdani, and maybe that is expected. A set of billionaire New Yorkers, including some who donated to Trump in the last presidential race, have pumped millions into trying to get Cuomo elected, as other powerful voices have urged Curtis Sliwa to drop out from the contest.

Candidate Backgrounds

For the Cuomo camp, and his wealthy backers, are worried, it should never have come to this point. When the assemblyman, one of 150 New York state assembly members, launched his campaign for mayor in October 2024, not many had heard of him, and in reality, barely anyone even noticed.

Cuomo, by contrast, eased his way into the contest in March 2025 and became the instant favorite. He was the political heavyweight who seemingly held all the advantages. The quintessential establishment figure, he had wed a political dynasty member and worked in a Democratic presidency. He became the state's leader in over a decade ago, seventeen years after his parent, Mario Cuomo, stepped down from the identical role.

The progressive, who was voted in to the New York state assembly in recently, does not have the same political heritage. But his dedication to providing free buses and free childcare – along with the rent control promise – offer a more positive vision of the city's direction than Cuomo’s pessimistic predictions about “mayhem” and rising criminal activity, and his vow to hire more police officers.

Campaign Controversies

Still, the candidate has faced some challenges in the final phase, after footage surfaced suggesting him suggesting the NYPD and the Israel Defense Forces were intertwined.

“We have to make clear that when the pressure of the NYPD is on your throat, it’s been laced by the Israeli military,” Mamdani said in the clip, filmed at a DSA convention in 2023. Mamdani, a longtime critic of the Israeli government who has said the country is engaging in atrocities in the Palestinian territory, indicated 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 reaction to his opponent's increasing rhetoric.

The progressive responded to Cuomo’s 9/11 remarks in an heartfelt recording. In it, Mamdani recalled how, when he first campaigned for the legislature, a family member advised to him that he did not have to tell people about his Muslim faith. 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 shadows of our community. That it is in those hidden spaces alone where Muslims could express their full identities, and that if we were to emerge from those shadows, then it is in those silence that we must leave our beliefs.”

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