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New Yorkers will find out who will be their next mayor this election day, in a race that will decide who runs and defends the country's largest city at a moment when Donald Trump has threatened to send military troops to the city.

In this context, New York has witnessed a mayoral election that has matched two very different Democratic figures against one another. The election has become an increasingly bitter face-off, laced with alleged racism and Islamophobia, but it is the ideological divide 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 rapid ascent and people-powered movement has brought global notice. On the establishment side is Andrew Cuomo, the former New York governor now campaigning independently – and benefiting from the support of ultra-rich donors and corporations.

As the election approaches, it is the progressive, the one-time underdog who defeated Cuomo in the Democratic primary who is solidly positioned as the leading candidate. The candidate, who has campaigned on a agenda of economic justice and promised to freeze rent for about two million New Yorkers, has led his rival by significant margins in every poll taken in October, and it is very much the progressive's election to lose.

A Bitter Contest

However, Cuomo, who stepped down as the state's leader in recent years amid accusations of misconduct, has stated clearly he will fight to the end, and not necessarily in an fair fashion. He has trashed Mamdani's goals as unachievable, and in the final stretch laughed as a radio host made Islamophobic remarks about the candidate, who is Muslim. Recently, the independent was widely condemned as racist after sharing an AI-generated ad that featured a slew of racist stereotypes and showed Mamdani freeing a group of criminals.

It's been a rather grubby conclusion to an race that could be key to the path that the party, struggling in its response to Trump's power moves, takes in the near future.

National Implications

If Mamdani wins convincingly, the party establishment who have refused to endorse his bid will be forced to reckon with a platform that has resonated with Americans' frustration at economic disparity, inflation and the establishment. It would be difficult for the Senate leader and the House leader not to adopt at least a portion of the candidate's ambitious ideas about economic justice, given the newcomer has generated an excitement within the Democratic ranks perhaps not seen since Bernie Sanders ran for president eight years ago.

However, should Cuomo, who had been expected to win easily in the June primary, achieve a remarkable comeback win, it could reinforce the party's current model of considered, lackluster opposition – a tactic that has angered grassroots members. A NYC rejection of the progressive's optimistic platform could convince Schumer and Jeffries that the best plan is to stick to the center – even as surveys show the present version of the Democratic party is deeply unpopular across the country.

Voter Enthusiasm

Residents of New York seem to prefer the progressive agenda. Polls show that his backers are far more enthusiastic about their candidate than Cuomo backers, something that has been apparent throughout the campaign. The candidate's engaging content on social media, his optimistic vision for New York and his readiness to actually get out and connect with voters in the metropolis has drawn an force of more than 50,000 supporters, many of them young or new participants.

Negative Tactics

Yet, Cuomo, in his late sixties, continues to fight. And with the risks against him, the former governor has resorted to ugly messaging in the final days.

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

Political Landscape

This strategy echoes much of what Trump, who has deployed the national guard to the capital and warned to do the same to NYC, has said about the progressive, and maybe that shouldn’t come as a surprise. A set of billionaire New Yorkers, including some who donated to the Republican in the 2024 election, have invested heavily into trying to elect Cuomo into office, as other influential figures have urged the Republican candidate to drop out from the contest.

Political Histories

For the his team, and his billionaire supporters, are concerned, it should not have reached to this point. When the assemblyman, one of one hundred fifty state legislators, started his campaign for mayor in October 2024, not many had known him, and in reality, barely anyone even paid attention.

The former governor, by comparison, eased his way into the contest in this year and became the instant favorite. He was the big beast who apparently held all the advantages. The quintessential political insider, he had married a Kennedy and served in Bill Clinton’s administration. He became New York governor in 2011, 17 years after his father, Mario Cuomo, left office from the identical role.

Mamdani, who was voted in to the New York state assembly in 2020, does not have the comparable background. But his dedication to providing no-cost transit and free childcare – along with the rent control promise – offer a more positive vision of the future than Cuomo’s pessimistic predictions about “mayhem” and rising criminal activity, and his promise to increase police presence.

Campaign Controversies

Nevertheless, Mamdani has encountered some challenges in the final phase, after video surfaced appearing to show him suggesting the NYPD and the IDF were connected.

“We have to make clear that when the boot of the NYPD is on your neck, it’s been influenced by the IDF,” Mamdani said in the recording, filmed at a Democratic Socialists of America convention in 2023. The progressive, a vocal opponent of Israel who has said the nation is committing genocide in the Palestinian territory, indicated he was questioning joint training exercises between the city police and Israeli forces.

Powerful Moment

As the race closes, Mamdani appears to have won empathy and backing, however, for his reaction to his opponent's increasing rhetoric.

Mamdani addressed Cuomo’s terrorism comments in an emotional video. In it, the candidate recalled how, when he first ran for the legislature, a family member advised to him that he did not have to disclose about his Muslim faith. It was a realization, he said, that many Muslim New Yorkers had been told “again and again”: “That security could only be found in the margins of our community. That it is in those hidden spaces alone where Muslims could embrace their full identities, and that if we were to emerge 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 alleged Mamd