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Residents of the Big Apple will learn the identity of their next mayor this election day, in a race that will determine who governs and protects the country's largest city at a time when the former president has threatened to send armed forces to the city.

Against that backdrop, New York has witnessed a mayoral election that has matched two very different Democrats against one another. The election has turned into an increasingly bitter showdown, laced with alleged racism and anti-Muslim sentiment, but it is the political differences between the two main candidates that could have significant consequences for how the party fares in next year's midterm elections.

The Progressive Challenger

On the left side is Zohran Mamdani, the 34-year-old democratic socialist whose meteoric rise and people-powered movement has attracted global notice. On the establishment side is the former governor, the former New York governor now running as an independent – and benefiting from the backing of wealthy contributors and big business.

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. Mamdani, who has campaigned on a agenda of economic justice and promised to halt rent increases for about 2 million New Yorkers, has led Cuomo by double-digits across all surveys taken in the fall, and it is very much the progressive's race to lose.

The Controversial Campaign

However, Cuomo, who stepped down as governor in recent years amid allegations of sexual harassment, has made it clear he will fight 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 broadcaster made Islamophobic remarks about the candidate, who is Muslim. Two weeks ago, Cuomo was widely condemned as bigoted after sharing an artificial intelligence video that included a series of racist stereotypes and showed Mamdani freeing a group of criminals.

It's been a rather grubby end to an election that could be critical to the direction that the party, struggling in its response to the former president's authoritarian grabs, takes in the coming years.

Broader Consequences

If Mamdani secures a clear victory, the party establishment who have refused to endorse his campaign will be compelled to address a message that has resonated with Americans' frustration at inequality, inflation and the establishment. It would be hard for Chuck Schumer and the House leader not to adopt at least a portion of the candidate's progressive proposals about affordability, given the newcomer has generated an enthusiasm within the Democratic ranks perhaps not seen since the Vermont senator campaigned for the White House eight years ago.

However, should Cuomo, who had been expected to sail to victory in the June primary, achieve a remarkable comeback win, it could reinforce the party's current model of cautious, uninspiring opposition – a strategy that has angered the party base. A New York rejection of the progressive's optimistic platform could persuade party leaders that the wisest course is to remain in the political 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 progressive agenda. Polls show that his backers are much more excited about their choice than his opponent's supporters, something that has been apparent during the race. The candidate's snappy videos 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 force of more than 50,000 volunteers, many of them young or new participants.

Personal Attacks

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

After spending months throwing basically everything at his opponent to see what might stick, Cuomo has concentrated on attacking Mamdani directly. He has called Mamdani, who was born in Uganda to South Asian heritage, an “extremist”, and popped up on conservative media for an discussion with Maria Bartiromo, where Cuomo asserted New York “will not survive” his opponent as mayor. It reached a nadir last week, when the former governor laughed along and said “that’s another problem” after a broadcaster said Mamdani would “cheer” another terrorist attack.

Political Landscape

This strategy mirrors much of what the former president, who has deployed 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 group of billionaire New Yorkers, including some who contributed to Trump in the 2024 election, have pumped millions into trying to get Cuomo elected, as other influential figures have pressured the Republican candidate to withdraw from the race.

Political Histories

For the Cuomo camp, and his wealthy backers, are concerned, 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 known him, and in truth, few even paid attention.

Cuomo, by comparison, eased his way into the race in March 2025 and became the immediate frontrunner. He was the big beast who apparently held all the advantages. The classic establishment figure, he had married a political dynasty member and served in Bill Clinton’s administration. He assumed office as the state's leader in over a decade ago, 17 years after his father, Mario Cuomo, left office from the same position.

Mamdani, who was voted in to the state legislature in 2020, does not have the same political heritage. But his dedication to providing no-cost transit and free childcare – along with the freeze-the-rent pledge – present 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.

Recent Challenges

Still, the candidate has faced difficulties in the final phase, after footage surfaced appearing to show him implying the New York police department and the Israel Defense Forces were intertwined.

“We have to make clear that when the boot of the NYPD is on your neck, it’s been influenced by the IDF,” the candidate said in the recording, recorded at a DSA convention in 2023. The progressive, a longtime critic of Israel who has said the country is engaging in atrocities in the Palestinian territory, suggested he was questioning joint training exercises between the NYPD and IDF.

Powerful Moment

As the race closes, the candidate seems to have gained sympathy and support, however, for his response to his opponent's increasing rhetoric.

Mamdani addressed the independent's 9/11 remarks in an heartfelt recording. In it, the candidate remembered how, when he first campaigned for the legislature, a family member advised to him that he did not have to tell people about his religion. It was a lesson, he said, that many Muslim New Yorkers had been told “again and again”: “That security could only be found in the margins of our city. 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 seclusion, then it is in those shadows that we must set aside our beliefs.”

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