🔗 Share this article

New Yorkers will find out who will be their next mayor this election day, in a contest that will decide who runs and defends the nation's largest city at a time when the former president has threatened to deploy military troops to the urban center.

Against that backdrop, New York has witnessed a mayoral election that has matched two very different Democratic figures against one another. The contest has become an acrimonious showdown, laced with alleged racial bias and anti-Muslim sentiment, but it is the political differences between the two leading candidates that could have major implications for how the Democratic party performs in next year's congressional races.

The Rising Progressive

On the left side is Zohran Mamdani, the 34-year-old democratic socialist whose rapid ascent and grassroots campaign has attracted international attention. On the establishment side is the former governor, the ex- New York governor now running as an independent – and benefiting from the backing of wealthy contributors and corporations.

With days to go, it is the progressive, the former longshot who defeated Cuomo in the party primary who is firmly installed as the frontrunner. The candidate, who has campaigned on a platform of affordability and promised to freeze rent for about two million New Yorkers, has led Cuomo by double-digits in every poll conducted in the fall, and it is very much the younger man's race to throw away.

A Bitter Contest

However, Cuomo, who stepped down as the state's leader in 2021 amid accusations of misconduct, has made it clear he will fight to the finish, and not necessarily in an fair fashion. He has criticized his opponent's goals as unrealistic, and in recent days chuckled along as a radio host made anti-Muslim comments about the candidate, who is a Muslim. Two weeks ago, the independent was strongly criticized as bigoted after sharing an artificial intelligence video that included a series of racist stereotypes and showed Mamdani freeing a convicts.

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

National Implications

If Mamdani wins convincingly, the party establishment who have declined to support his bid will be compelled to address a message that has appealed to voters' anger at economic disparity, inflation and the political elite. It would be difficult for the Senate leader and Hakeem Jeffries not to adopt at least a portion of Mamdani's progressive proposals about economic justice, given the newcomer has generated an enthusiasm within the party arguably not witnessed since Bernie Sanders campaigned for the White House eight years ago.

Conversely, if Cuomo, who had been expected to win easily in the Democratic primary, achieve a remarkable comeback win, it could reinforce the party's current model of considered, uninspiring opposition – a tactic that has infuriated grassroots members. A NYC rejection of Mamdani's progressive, positive message could convince party leaders that the wisest course is to stick to the political center – even as surveys show the present version of the Democratic party is deeply unpopular across the country.

Voter Enthusiasm

Voters in New York seem to prefer the progressive agenda. Polls show that his backers are much more excited about their choice than Cuomo backers, something that has been evident during the race. Mamdani's engaging content on social media, his optimistic vision for New York and his willingness to actually get out and connect with voters in the city has drawn an force of more than 50,000 supporters, many of them youth or first-time voters.

Personal Attacks

However, the former governor, 67, continues to fight. And with the stakes stacked against him, the former governor has turned to ugly messaging in recent weeks.

Following extensive launching various attacks at Mamdani to see what might stick, the independent has narrowed his focus on attacking the candidate directly. He has called Mamdani, who was of Ugandan origin to Indian parents, an “extremist”, and appeared on conservative media for an interview with a rightwing host, where the candidate claimed New York “will not survive” his opponent as city leader. It hit bottom recently, when Cuomo chuckled and said “that’s another problem” after a broadcaster said the candidate would “cheer” another 9/11-style incident.

Campaign Dynamics

The line of attack mirrors much of what the former president, who has sent the military reserves to the capital and warned to do the same to New York, has said about Mamdani, and maybe that shouldn’t come as a surprise. A set of billionaire New Yorkers, including some who donated to Trump in the 2024 election, have invested heavily into trying to get the independent elected, as other influential figures have urged Curtis Sliwa to drop out from the race.

Political Histories

For the Cuomo camp, and his billionaire supporters, are worried, it should never have come to this. When Mamdani, one of one hundred fifty New York state assembly members, started his mayoral bid in last year, not many had heard of him, and in reality, few 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 every edge. The classic political insider, he had wed a Kennedy and served in Bill Clinton’s administration. He became New York governor in over a decade ago, 17 years after his parent, the former governor, stepped down from the same position.

The progressive, who was voted in to the state legislature in recently, does not have the comparable background. But his commitment to providing free buses and free childcare – along with the rent control promise – present a brighter outlook of the future 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 recent days, after footage surfaced appearing to show him suggesting the NYPD and the Israel Defense Forces were connected.

“We have to make clear that when the pressure of the NYPD is on your neck, it’s been laced by the Israeli military,” the candidate said in the recording, recorded at a DSA convention in 2023. Mamdani, a longtime critic of the Israeli government who has said the country is engaging in atrocities in Gaza, suggested he was questioning cooperative programs between the city police and IDF.

Emotional Response

With the election nearing, the candidate appears to have won sympathy and support, however, for his reaction to Cuomo’s increasing rhetoric.

The progressive addressed Cuomo’s terrorism comments in an heartfelt recording. In it, Mamdani remembered 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, he said, that many local Muslims had been told “again and again”: “That security could only be found in the margins of our community. That it is in those shadows alone where followers of Islam could embrace their true selves, and that if we were to emerge from those seclusion, then it is in those silence that we must set aside our faith.”

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