🔗 Share this article

Residents of the Big Apple will learn who will be their next mayor this Tuesday, in a contest that will decide who runs and defends the country's largest city at a time when the former president has threatened to deploy military troops to the city.

In this context, New York has witnessed a race for mayor that has pitted two distinctly opposing Democrats against one another. The election has turned into an acrimonious showdown, marked by accusations of racism and anti-Muslim sentiment, but it is the political differences between the two leading candidates that could have major implications for how the party performs in next year's midterm elections.

The Progressive Challenger

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

With days to go, it is Mamdani, the former longshot who defeated Cuomo in the Democratic primary who is solidly positioned as the leading candidate. The candidate, who has run on a platform of economic justice and promised to freeze rent for about 2 million city residents, has led his rival by double-digits across all surveys taken in the fall, and it is very much the younger man's race to throw away.

The Controversial Campaign

However, the former governor, who stepped down as governor in recent years amid allegations of misconduct, has made it clear he will battle to the end, and not necessarily in an fair fashion. He has trashed Mamdani's goals as unachievable, and in recent days chuckled along as a radio host made anti-Muslim comments about Mamdani, who is a Muslim. Two weeks ago, the independent was strongly criticized as racist after posting an artificial intelligence video that featured a slew of racist stereotypes and showed his opponent freeing a group of criminals.

This represents a particularly ugly end to an election that could be critical to the direction that the Democratic party, struggling in its reaction to the former president's authoritarian grabs, takes in the near future.

Broader Consequences

If the progressive secures a clear victory, the establishment party leaders who have declined to support his campaign will be compelled to address a platform that has appealed to Americans' frustration at inequality, inflation and the political elite. It would be difficult for Chuck Schumer and Hakeem Jeffries not to embrace at least some of the candidate's progressive proposals about economic justice, given the newcomer has created an excitement within the Democratic ranks perhaps not witnessed since Bernie Sanders campaigned for the White House in 2016.

Conversely, should Cuomo, who had been predicted to win easily in the June primary, achieve a remarkable comeback victory, it could reinforce national Democrats' current model of cautious, lackluster resistance – a tactic that has infuriated the party base. A NYC rejection of the progressive's progressive, positive message could convince party leaders that the wisest course is to stick to the center – even as surveys show the current iteration of the party is widely disliked across the country.

Voter Enthusiasm

Voters in New York seem to prefer the progressive agenda. Surveys show that Mamdani supporters are far more enthusiastic about their choice than his opponent's supporters, something that has been evident throughout the campaign. Mamdani's engaging content on social media, his hopeful outlook for New York and his readiness to actually venture out and connect with voters in the metropolis has drawn an army of over fifty thousand supporters, many of them young or new participants.

Negative Tactics

However, Cuomo, 67, isn't giving up. And with the stakes stacked against him, the ex-leader has resorted to negative campaigning in the final days.

Following extensive launching various attacks at his opponent to see what might resonate, the independent has narrowed his focus on targeting the candidate directly. He has called Mamdani, who was of Ugandan origin to South Asian heritage, an “extremist”, and popped up on Fox Business for an interview with a rightwing host, where Cuomo asserted New York “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 broadcaster said Mamdani 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 Washington DC and warned to take similar action to New York, has said about Mamdani, and maybe that shouldn’t come as a surprise. A group of wealthy residents, including some who donated to the Republican in the 2024 election, have pumped millions into trying to elect Cuomo elected, as other powerful voices have pressured Curtis Sliwa to drop out from the race.

Political Histories

As far as the his team, and his billionaire supporters, are concerned, it should not have reached to this. When the assemblyman, one of 150 state legislators, started his campaign for mayor in October 2024, not many had known him, and in reality, barely anyone even noticed.

The former governor, by comparison, entered smoothly into the race in this year and became the instant favorite. He was the political heavyweight who seemingly held all the advantages. The quintessential political insider, he had wed a political dynasty member and worked in Bill Clinton’s administration. He assumed office as New York governor in 2011, seventeen years after his parent, the former governor, left office 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 commitment to providing free buses and affordable child services – along with the rent control promise – present a more positive vision of the city's direction than his opponent's dire warnings about “mayhem” and unfettered crime, and his vow to hire more police officers.

Campaign Controversies

Still, Mamdani has faced difficulties 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 laced by the Israeli military,” Mamdani said in the clip, recorded at a DSA convention in recent years. The progressive, a vocal opponent of the Israeli government who has said the country is committing genocide in the Palestinian territory, suggested he was questioning joint training exercises between the NYPD and IDF.

Powerful Moment

As the race closes, Mamdani appears to have won sympathy and support, however, for his reaction to Cuomo’s escalating attacks.

The progressive addressed 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 advised to him that he did not have to tell people about his Muslim faith. It was a lesson, Mamdani said, that many local Muslims had been taught “again and again”: “That security could only be found in the margins of our city. That it is in those shadows alone where Muslims could embrace their true selves, and that if we were to step out from those shadows, then it is in those shadows that we must set aside our beliefs.”

Speaking to the actions of his opponents, who has claimed Mamd