🔗 Share this article

Residents of the Big Apple will learn the identity of their next mayor this election day, in a contest that will determine who runs and protects the nation's largest city at a moment when the former president has vowed to deploy armed forces to the city.

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

The Progressive Challenger

In the progressive corner is Zohran Mamdani, the young progressive candidate whose rapid ascent and people-powered movement has attracted international attention. Representing the old guard is the former governor, the ex- New York governor now running as an independent – and enjoying the support of wealthy contributors and big business.

As the election approaches, it is Mamdani, the one-time underdog who defeated Cuomo in the Democratic primary who is firmly installed as the leading candidate. Mamdani, who has campaigned on a agenda of economic justice and pledged to halt rent increases for about two million city residents, has outpaced his rival by significant margins in every poll conducted in October, and it is very much the progressive's race to throw away.

A Bitter Contest

However, the former governor, who resigned as the state's leader in recent years amid accusations of sexual harassment, has made it clear he will fight to the finish, and not necessarily in an above-the-belt fashion. He has criticized Mamdani's goals as unrealistic, and in the final stretch laughed as a broadcaster made Islamophobic remarks about the candidate, who is a Muslim. Recently, the independent was strongly criticized as bigoted after posting an AI-generated ad that featured a series of racist stereotypes and showed his opponent freeing a group of criminals.

It's been a rather grubby end to an election that could be key to the direction that the Democratic party, floundering in its reaction to Trump's authoritarian grabs, takes in the coming years.

National Implications

Should Mamdani wins convincingly, the establishment party leaders who have refused to endorse his bid will be compelled to address a platform that has appealed to Americans' anger at inequality, soaring price rises and the establishment. It would be difficult 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 created an excitement within the party perhaps not witnessed since Bernie Sanders campaigned for the White House in 2016.

Conversely, if the former governor, who had been predicted to win easily in the Democratic primary, complete a surprising comeback victory, it could cement national Democrats' current model of cautious, lackluster resistance – a tactic that has infuriated grassroots members. A NYC rejection of Mamdani's progressive, positive message could persuade Schumer and Jeffries that the best plan is to remain in the center – even as surveys show the present version of the party is deeply unpopular nationwide.

Campaign Energy

Residents of the city appear to favor the progressive agenda. Polls show that Mamdani supporters are far more enthusiastic about their candidate than his opponent's supporters, something that has been evident during the race. The candidate's snappy videos on social media, his hopeful outlook for the city and his readiness to actually get out and connect with voters in the metropolis has attracted an army of over fifty thousand volunteers, many of them young or first-time voters.

Negative Tactics

Yet, the former governor, 67, continues to fight. And with the stakes against him, the former governor has resorted to negative campaigning in the final days.

After spending months launching various attacks at Mamdani to see what might stick, Cuomo has narrowed his focus on targeting Mamdani personally. He has called Mamdani, who was born in Uganda to Indian parents, an "radical", and popped up on conservative media for an interview with a rightwing host, where the candidate asserted the city “will not survive” his opponent as mayor. It reached a nadir recently, when the former governor laughed along and said “that’s another problem” after a radio host said the candidate would “cheer” another 9/11-style incident.

Campaign Dynamics

This strategy mirrors much of what Trump, who has deployed the military reserves to Washington DC and threatened to do the same to New York, has said about Mamdani, and perhaps that is expected. A group of billionaire New Yorkers, including some who donated to the Republican in the last presidential race, have pumped millions into trying to get the independent elected, as other powerful voices have pressured the Republican candidate to drop out from the race.

Candidate Backgrounds

As far as the Cuomo camp, and his wealthy backers, are worried, it should never have come to this. When the assemblyman, one of one hundred fifty New York state assembly members, launched his campaign for mayor in last year, few had heard of him, and in reality, barely anyone even paid attention.

The former governor, by contrast, eased his way into the race in this year and became the immediate frontrunner. He was the big beast who apparently held every edge. The classic political insider, he had wed a political dynasty member and worked in a Democratic presidency. He became the state's leader in over a decade ago, seventeen years after his father, the former governor, left office from the same position.

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 brighter outlook of the city's direction than Cuomo’s pessimistic predictions about “mayhem” and unfettered crime, and his vow to increase police presence.

Recent Challenges

Still, the candidate has encountered some challenges in recent days, 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 police is on your throat, it’s been influenced by the IDF,” the candidate said in the clip, recorded 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, indicated he was questioning joint training exercises between the NYPD and IDF.

Powerful Moment

With the election nearing, the candidate appears to have won empathy and backing, however, for his reaction to his opponent's escalating attacks.

The progressive addressed the independent's 9/11 remarks in an emotional video. In it, Mamdani recalled how, when he first campaigned 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 local Muslims had been told “again and again”: “That safety could only be found in the margins of our city. That it is in those shadows 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 faith.”

Addressing the behavior of his opponents, who has alleged Mamd