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Residents of the Big Apple will discover the identity of their next mayor this election day, in a race that will determine who governs and protects the country's most populous metropolis at a time when Donald Trump has vowed to deploy military troops to the city.

In this context, New York has experienced a mayoral election that has pitted two distinctly opposing Democratic figures against each other. The election has become an acrimonious face-off, laced with alleged racism and Islamophobia, but it is the ideological divide between the two main contenders that could have major implications for how the party performs in next year's congressional races.

The Rising Progressive

On the left side is Zohran Mamdani, the 34-year-old progressive candidate whose meteoric rise and grassroots campaign has attracted global notice. On the establishment side is Andrew Cuomo, the ex- New York governor now campaigning independently – and benefiting from the backing of wealthy contributors and big business.

With days to go, it is the progressive, the former longshot who beat his opponent in the party primary who is solidly positioned as the leading candidate. The candidate, who has campaigned on a agenda of economic justice and pledged to halt rent increases for about two million city residents, has led Cuomo by double-digits across all surveys taken in October, and it is very much the younger man's election to throw away.

The Controversial Campaign

However, the former governor, who stepped down as the state's leader in recent years amid accusations of sexual harassment, has stated clearly he will battle to the end, and not necessarily in an above-the-belt manner. He has trashed his opponent's goals as unachievable, and in the final stretch laughed as a broadcaster made Islamophobic remarks about the candidate, who is Muslim. Two weeks ago, Cuomo was widely condemned as racist after sharing an artificial intelligence video that included a series of racial caricatures and showed his opponent freeing a group of criminals.

It's been a rather grubby end to an race that could be key to the direction that the party, floundering in its response to the former president's power moves, adopts in the coming years.

Broader Consequences

Should Mamdani secures a clear victory, the establishment party leaders who have refused to endorse his campaign will be compelled to address a platform that has appealed to voters' frustration at economic disparity, inflation and the political elite. It would be hard for Chuck Schumer and the House leader not to embrace at least some of the candidate's progressive proposals about economic justice, given the newcomer has created an excitement within the party arguably not seen since Bernie Sanders ran for president eight years ago.

Conversely, should Cuomo, who had been expected to win easily in the June primary, achieve a remarkable riches-to-rags-to-riches win, it could cement the party's existing approach of considered, lackluster opposition – a strategy that has angered grassroots members. A NYC defeat of the progressive's optimistic platform could persuade Schumer and Jeffries that the best plan is to stick to the center – even as surveys show the current iteration of the Democratic party is widely disliked across the country.

Campaign Energy

Voters in the city seem to prefer the Mamdani vision. Surveys show that his backers are far more enthusiastic about their choice than his opponent's supporters, something that has been evident during the race. The candidate's engaging content on digital platforms, his optimistic vision for the city and his willingness to actually get out and connect with voters in the city has attracted an army of more than 50,000 supporters, many of them youth or first-time voters.

Personal Attacks

However, the former governor, in his late sixties, continues to fight. And with the stakes against him, the former governor has turned to ugly messaging in the final days.

Following extensive launching various attacks at his opponent to see what might stick, Cuomo has concentrated on targeting Mamdani directly. He has called Mamdani, who was born in Uganda to South Asian heritage, an “extremist”, and appeared on conservative media for an interview with a rightwing host, where the candidate claimed New York “will not survive” Mamdani as city leader. It reached a nadir last week, when Cuomo chuckled and said “that’s another problem” after a radio host said the candidate would “cheer” another terrorist attack.

Political Landscape

The line of attack mirrors much of what Trump, who has sent the national guard to the capital and threatened to take similar action to NYC, has said about the progressive, and maybe that is expected. A set of wealthy residents, including some who contributed to the Republican in the last presidential race, have pumped millions into trying to elect Cuomo into office, as other influential figures have pressured the Republican candidate to withdraw from the contest.

Candidate Backgrounds

As far as the his team, and his wealthy backers, are worried, it should not have reached to this. When the assemblyman, one of 150 state legislators, launched his campaign for mayor in last year, not many had known him, and in reality, barely anyone even noticed.

The former governor, by comparison, entered smoothly into the race in March 2025 and became the instant favorite. He was the political heavyweight who apparently held every edge. The classic establishment figure, he had wed a Kennedy and served in Bill Clinton’s administration. He assumed office as the state's leader in 2011, 17 years after his father, Mario Cuomo, left office from the same position.

The progressive, who was elected 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 brighter outlook of the future than Cuomo’s pessimistic predictions about “mayhem” and unfettered crime, and his promise to hire more police officers.

Campaign Controversies

Still, the candidate has faced difficulties in the final phase, after video surfaced suggesting him suggesting the New York police department and the IDF were intertwined.

“We have to make clear that when the pressure of the police is on your neck, it’s been laced by the IDF,” Mamdani said in the recording, filmed at a DSA convention in 2023. The progressive, a vocal opponent of Israel who has said the country is engaging in atrocities in the Palestinian territory, suggested he was questioning joint training exercises between the city police and IDF.

Emotional Response

As the race closes, the candidate appears to have won empathy and backing, however, for his response to Cuomo’s escalating attacks.

The progressive addressed the independent's 9/11 remarks in an heartfelt recording. In it, Mamdani recalled how, when he first ran for the legislature, a family member suggested 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 told “again and again”: “That safety could only be found in the shadows of our community. That it is in those shadows alone where Muslims could embrace their true selves, and that if we were to emerge from those shadows, then it is in those shadows that we must set aside our faith.”

Addressing the behavior of his opponents, who has alleged Mamd