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New Yorkers will find out the identity of their next mayor this Tuesday, in a race that will decide who runs and defends the country's largest city at a time when the former president has vowed to send military troops to the city.

Against that backdrop, New York has experienced a race for mayor that has pitted two distinctly opposing Democrats against each other. The election has turned into an acrimonious face-off, marked by alleged racial bias and anti-Muslim sentiment, but it is the ideological divide between the two leading candidates that could have significant consequences for how the Democratic party performs in next year's congressional races.

The Progressive Challenger

On the left side is Zohran Mamdani, the 34-year-old progressive candidate whose rapid ascent and people-powered movement has brought global notice. Representing the old guard is the former governor, the ex- New York governor now campaigning independently – and benefiting from the backing of ultra-rich donors and corporations.

As the election approaches, it is Mamdani, the one-time underdog who beat his opponent in the Democratic primary who is firmly installed as the leading candidate. Mamdani, who has run on a agenda of affordability and pledged to freeze rent for about 2 million New Yorkers, has led his rival by significant margins across all surveys conducted in the fall, and it is very much the younger man's election to throw away.

The Controversial Campaign

However, Cuomo, who resigned as the state's leader in recent years amid accusations of sexual harassment, has stated clearly he will battle to the finish, and not necessarily in an fair fashion. He has trashed his opponent's objectives as unrealistic, and in recent days laughed as a radio host made anti-Muslim comments about Mamdani, who is Muslim. Recently, the independent was widely condemned as racist after sharing an AI-generated ad that featured a slew of racial caricatures and showed Mamdani freeing a group of criminals.

This represents a rather grubby conclusion to an race that could be key to the path that the Democratic party, struggling in its reaction to the former president's authoritarian grabs, takes in the coming years.

National Implications

If the progressive secures a clear victory, the party establishment who have refused to endorse his campaign will be forced to reckon with a message that has appealed to Americans' anger at inequality, soaring price rises and the political elite. It would be difficult for Chuck Schumer and the House leader not to embrace at least a portion of the candidate's progressive proposals about economic justice, given the newcomer has created an enthusiasm within the Democratic ranks arguably not witnessed since the Vermont senator ran for president in 2016.

Conversely, should Cuomo, who had been predicted to sail to victory in the June primary, complete a surprising comeback win, it could reinforce the party's existing approach of cautious, lackluster resistance – a tactic that has infuriated the party base. A NYC rejection of Mamdani's progressive, positive message could convince Schumer and Jeffries that the wisest course is to stick to the political center – even as surveys show the present version of the Democratic party is widely disliked nationwide.

Campaign Energy

Residents of New York seem to prefer the progressive agenda. Polls show that his backers 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 digital platforms, his hopeful outlook for New York and his willingness to actually get out and connect with voters in the city has attracted an army of more than 50,000 volunteers, many of them young or new participants.

Personal Attacks

However, Cuomo, 67, continues to fight. And with the risks 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 resonate, Cuomo has narrowed his focus on targeting the candidate personally. He has called his rival, who was of Ugandan origin to Indian parents, an “extremist”, and popped up on conservative media for an interview with Maria Bartiromo, where Cuomo asserted New York “will not survive” his opponent as city leader. It hit bottom recently, when the former governor chuckled and said “that’s another problem” after a radio host said the candidate would “cheer” another 9/11-style attack.

Political Landscape

The line of attack mirrors much of what the former president, who has deployed the military reserves to Washington DC and threatened to take similar action to New York, has said about Mamdani, and perhaps that is expected. A group of wealthy residents, including some who donated to Trump in the 2024 election, have pumped millions into trying to elect the independent elected, as other influential figures have urged Curtis Sliwa to drop out from the race.

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, started his campaign for mayor in October 2024, few had heard of him, and in reality, few even noticed.

The former governor, by comparison, entered smoothly into the contest in this year and became the immediate frontrunner. He was the big beast who apparently held all the advantages. The quintessential political insider, he had wed a political dynasty member and served in Bill Clinton’s administration. He assumed office as New York governor in 2011, 17 years after his parent, Mario Cuomo, left office from the identical role.

The progressive, who was elected to the New York state assembly in 2020, does not have the same political heritage. But his commitment 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 dire warnings about “mayhem” and rising criminal activity, and his promise to increase police presence.

Campaign Controversies

Still, the candidate has faced some challenges in the final phase, after video surfaced suggesting him implying 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,” Mamdani said in the recording, recorded at a Democratic Socialists of America gathering in 2023. Mamdani, a vocal opponent of the Israeli government who has said the nation is engaging in atrocities in Gaza, suggested he was criticizing cooperative programs between the city police and IDF.

Powerful Moment

With the election nearing, Mamdani seems to have gained empathy and backing, however, for his response to his opponent's increasing rhetoric.

Mamdani responded to the independent's 9/11 remarks in an heartfelt recording. In it, the candidate remembered how, when he first campaigned for the legislature, a family member suggested to him that he did not have to tell people about his Muslim faith. It was a realization, Mamdani 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 shadows alone where followers of Islam could embrace their true selves, and that if we were to step out from those shadows, then it is in those silence that we must leave our beliefs.”

Addressing the behavior of his opponents, who has alleged Mamd