🔗 Share this article

New Yorkers will learn the identity of their next mayor this Tuesday, in a contest that will decide who governs and defends the nation's largest city at a time when Donald Trump has threatened to deploy armed forces to the urban center.

Against that backdrop, New York has witnessed a race for mayor that has pitted two very different Democratic figures against one another. The election has turned into an acrimonious showdown, laced with alleged racism and Islamophobia, but it is the political differences between the two main contenders that could have significant consequences for how the party fares in next year's congressional races.

The Progressive Challenger

In the progressive corner is Zohran Mamdani, the young democratic socialist whose rapid ascent and grassroots campaign has attracted international attention. On the establishment side is Andrew Cuomo, the former New York governor now running as an independent – and benefiting from the support of wealthy contributors and big business.

As the election approaches, it is the progressive, the one-time underdog who defeated his opponent in the Democratic primary who is firmly installed as the frontrunner. Mamdani, who has campaigned on a platform of affordability and pledged to halt rent increases for about two million New Yorkers, has outpaced his rival by double-digits in every poll conducted in the fall, and it is very much the progressive's election 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 battle to the finish, and not necessarily in an above-the-belt manner. He has criticized his opponent's goals as unachievable, and in recent days chuckled along as a broadcaster made Islamophobic remarks about Mamdani, who is Muslim. Two weeks ago, the independent was widely condemned as racist after posting an AI-generated ad that featured a slew of racial caricatures and showed his opponent freeing a convicts.

It's been a rather grubby conclusion to an election that could be critical to the path that the party, struggling in its response to Trump's authoritarian grabs, takes in the near future.

Broader Consequences

If Mamdani wins convincingly, the establishment party leaders who have refused to endorse his campaign will be forced to reckon with a platform that has resonated with voters' frustration at economic disparity, inflation and the political elite. It would be difficult for the Senate leader and the House leader not to adopt at least a portion of Mamdani's progressive proposals about economic justice, given the newcomer has generated an enthusiasm within the Democratic ranks arguably not witnessed since Bernie Sanders ran for president in 2016.

Conversely, if the former governor, who had been predicted to sail to victory in the Democratic primary, achieve a surprising comeback win, it could reinforce national Democrats' existing approach of cautious, lackluster opposition – a strategy that has infuriated the party base. A New York rejection of Mamdani's progressive, positive message could convince Schumer and Jeffries that the best plan is to remain in the center – even as polls show the present version of the party is deeply unpopular across the country.

Voter Enthusiasm

Voters in the city appear to favor the Mamdani vision. Polls show that Mamdani supporters are far more enthusiastic about their candidate than his opponent's supporters, something that has been evident throughout the campaign. The candidate's engaging content on digital platforms, his hopeful outlook for New York and his readiness to actually venture out and meet people in the metropolis has drawn an army of more than 50,000 supporters, many of them young or first-time voters.

Personal Attacks

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

After spending months launching various attacks at Mamdani to see what might resonate, Cuomo has concentrated on attacking Mamdani directly. He has called Mamdani, who was born in Uganda to Indian parents, an “extremist”, and appeared on conservative media for an discussion with Maria Bartiromo, where the candidate claimed the city “will not survive” Mamdani as city leader. It reached a nadir recently, when Cuomo laughed along and said “that’s another problem” after a broadcaster said the candidate would “cheer” another 9/11-style attack.

Political Landscape

This strategy mirrors much of what the former president, who has sent the military reserves to the capital and threatened to take similar action to NYC, has said about the progressive, and maybe that is expected. A set of billionaire New Yorkers, including some who donated to Trump in the last presidential race, have invested heavily into trying to get Cuomo elected, as other influential figures have pressured Curtis Sliwa to withdraw from the contest.

Candidate Backgrounds

For the his team, and his billionaire supporters, are concerned, it should not have reached to this. When Mamdani, one of 150 New York state assembly members, started his mayoral bid in last year, not many had known him, and in truth, barely anyone even paid attention.

The former governor, by contrast, eased his way into the contest in this year and became the instant favorite. He was the big beast who seemingly held every edge. The quintessential establishment figure, he had married a Kennedy and served in Bill Clinton’s administration. He assumed office as New York governor in over a decade ago, 17 years after his father, the former governor, stepped down from the identical role.

Mamdani, 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 freeze-the-rent pledge – offer a brighter outlook of the city's direction than his opponent's pessimistic predictions about “mayhem” and unfettered crime, and his vow to increase police presence.

Recent Challenges

Still, the candidate has faced difficulties in the final phase, after footage emerged appearing to show him suggesting the NYPD 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 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 committing genocide in the Palestinian territory, suggested he was questioning cooperative programs between the NYPD and Israeli forces.

Powerful Moment

As the race closes, Mamdani appears to have won sympathy and support, however, for his response to his opponent's increasing rhetoric.

Mamdani addressed Cuomo’s terrorism comments in an heartfelt recording. In it, the candidate remembered how, when he first ran for the legislature, a family member suggested to him that he did not have to disclose about his religion. It was a lesson, he said, that many local Muslims had been told “again and again”: “That security could only be found in the shadows of our community. That it is in those shadows alone where followers of Islam could express their true selves, and that if we were to step out from those seclusion, then it is in those silence that we must set aside our beliefs.”

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