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Residents of the Big Apple will discover who will be their next mayor this Tuesday, in a race that will determine who governs and defends the country's most populous metropolis at a moment when the former president has vowed to deploy military troops to the city.

In this context, New York has witnessed a race for mayor that has pitted two very different Democrats against each other. The contest has turned into an increasingly bitter showdown, marked by accusations of racial bias and Islamophobia, but it is the political differences between the two main candidates that could have significant consequences for how the Democratic party fares in next year's congressional races.

The Rising Progressive

On the left side is Zohran Mamdani, the young progressive candidate whose rapid ascent and people-powered movement has brought global notice. Representing the old guard is Andrew Cuomo, the ex- New York governor now campaigning independently – and enjoying the backing of wealthy contributors and big business.

With days to go, it is the progressive, the former longshot who defeated his opponent in the party primary who is solidly positioned as the frontrunner. Mamdani, who has run on a agenda of economic justice and pledged to freeze rent for about 2 million New Yorkers, has led his rival by significant margins across all surveys taken in the fall, and it is very much the progressive's election to lose.

A Bitter Contest

However, Cuomo, who resigned as the state's leader in 2021 amid allegations of misconduct, has stated clearly he will fight to the finish, and not necessarily in an above-the-belt fashion. He has trashed Mamdani's goals as unrealistic, and in the final stretch chuckled along as a radio host made anti-Muslim comments about Mamdani, who is Muslim. Two weeks ago, the independent was strongly criticized as bigoted after sharing an AI-generated ad that featured a slew of racial caricatures and showed his opponent releasing a group of criminals.

It's been a particularly ugly end to an election that could be critical to the path that the party, struggling in its response to Trump's power moves, takes in the coming years.

Broader Consequences

If the progressive secures a clear victory, the establishment party leaders who have declined to support his campaign will be forced to reckon with a message that has resonated with voters' anger at inequality, soaring price rises and the establishment. It would be hard for the Senate leader and Hakeem Jeffries not to embrace at least some of the candidate's ambitious ideas about affordability, given the fresh face has generated an enthusiasm within the Democratic ranks arguably not seen since the Vermont senator ran for president in 2016.

However, should Cuomo, who had been predicted to sail to victory in the Democratic primary, complete a surprising comeback win, it could cement national Democrats' existing approach of considered, lackluster opposition – a strategy that has angered the party base. A NYC defeat of Mamdani's optimistic platform could convince Schumer and Jeffries that the best plan is to remain in the political center – even as polls show the current iteration of the Democratic party is widely disliked nationwide.

Campaign Energy

Residents of New York seem to prefer the Mamdani vision. Polls show that his backers are much more excited about their choice than Cuomo backers, something that has been apparent during the race. Mamdani's engaging content on social media, his hopeful outlook for the city and his readiness to actually get out and connect with voters in the metropolis has drawn an force of over fifty thousand volunteers, many of them youth or new participants.

Personal Attacks

However, Cuomo, 67, isn't giving up. And with the stakes against him, the former governor has turned to negative campaigning in recent weeks.

Following extensive throwing basically everything at Mamdani to see what might stick, Cuomo has concentrated on targeting the candidate personally. He has labelled his rival, who was born in Uganda to South Asian heritage, an “extremist”, and appeared on Fox Business for an discussion with Maria Bartiromo, where Cuomo asserted New York “will not survive” his opponent as mayor. It hit bottom recently, when the former governor laughed along and said “that’s another problem” after a broadcaster said the candidate would “cheer” another terrorist attack.

Political Landscape

This strategy echoes much of what the former president, who has sent the national guard to Washington DC and warned to take similar action to NYC, has said about the progressive, and perhaps 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 get the independent elected, as other influential figures have pressured the Republican candidate to withdraw from the contest.

Candidate Backgrounds

For the his team, and his wealthy backers, are worried, it should not have reached to this point. When Mamdani, one of 150 state legislators, launched his mayoral bid in last year, not many had known him, and in reality, few even noticed.

The former governor, by contrast, entered smoothly into the contest in March 2025 and became the immediate frontrunner. He was the political heavyweight who seemingly held all the advantages. The quintessential political insider, he had wed a political dynasty member and served in a Democratic presidency. He assumed office as the state's leader in over a decade ago, seventeen years after his parent, the former governor, stepped down from the identical role.

The progressive, who was elected to the state legislature in recently, does not have the comparable background. But his dedication to providing no-cost transit and free childcare – along with the freeze-the-rent pledge – present a more positive vision of the future than Cuomo’s pessimistic predictions about “mayhem” and rising criminal activity, and his promise to hire more police officers.

Recent Challenges

Still, the candidate has faced some challenges in the final phase, after footage surfaced suggesting him suggesting the NYPD and the IDF were connected.

“We have to make clear that when the boot of the police is on your neck, it’s been influenced by the IDF,” the candidate said in the recording, filmed at a Democratic Socialists of America convention in 2023. The progressive, a vocal opponent of the Israeli government who has said the country is engaging in atrocities in the Palestinian territory, suggested he was criticizing cooperative programs between the NYPD and IDF.

Powerful Moment

As the race closes, Mamdani seems to have gained sympathy and support, however, for his response to Cuomo’s increasing rhetoric.

Mamdani responded to Cuomo’s 9/11 remarks in an emotional video. In it, Mamdani recalled how, when he first ran for state assembly, a family member advised to him that he did not have to disclose about his Muslim faith. 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 hidden spaces alone where followers of Islam could express 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.”

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