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New Yorkers will find out who will be their new city leader this election day, in a contest that will determine who governs and defends the country's most populous metropolis at a time when Donald Trump has vowed to send military troops to the urban center.

Against that backdrop, New York has witnessed a race for mayor that has pitted two distinctly opposing Democrats against one another. The election has turned into an acrimonious showdown, laced with accusations of racial bias and Islamophobia, but it is the ideological divide between the two main contenders that could have significant consequences for how the party fares in next year's congressional races.

The Rising Progressive

In the progressive corner is Zohran Mamdani, the 34-year-old progressive candidate whose meteoric rise and people-powered movement has brought international attention. 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 big business.

As the election approaches, it is Mamdani, the one-time underdog who beat Cuomo in the party primary who is solidly positioned as the leading candidate. The candidate, who has campaigned on a platform of affordability and promised to freeze rent for about two million city residents, has led Cuomo by significant margins across all surveys taken in October, and it is very much the younger man's race to lose.

The Controversial Campaign

However, the former governor, who resigned as governor in 2021 amid allegations of sexual harassment, has made it clear he will battle to the end, and not necessarily in an fair manner. He has criticized Mamdani's objectives as unachievable, and in recent days chuckled along as a broadcaster 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 racist stereotypes and showed his opponent releasing a group of criminals.

This represents a particularly ugly conclusion to an race that could be key to the direction that the Democratic party, struggling in its response to Trump's authoritarian grabs, takes in the coming years.

Broader Consequences

Should the progressive secures a clear victory, the establishment party leaders who have refused to endorse his campaign will be compelled to address a message that has resonated with voters' anger at inequality, soaring price rises and the political elite. It would be hard for Chuck Schumer and the House leader not to adopt at least some of the candidate's ambitious ideas about economic justice, given the fresh face has generated an excitement within the Democratic ranks arguably not seen since Bernie Sanders campaigned for the White House eight years ago.

However, if Cuomo, who had been predicted to win easily in the Democratic primary, complete a surprising riches-to-rags-to-riches victory, it could reinforce the party's current model of considered, lackluster opposition – a tactic that has infuriated the party base. A New York rejection of Mamdani's optimistic platform could persuade 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 across the country.

Voter Enthusiasm

Residents of New York appear to favor the progressive agenda. Polls show that his backers are much more excited about their candidate than his opponent's supporters, something that has been evident throughout the campaign. Mamdani's engaging content on digital platforms, his optimistic vision for New York and his readiness to actually venture out and connect with voters in the metropolis has drawn an army of over fifty thousand volunteers, many of them youth or first-time voters.

Personal Attacks

Yet, the former governor, in his late sixties, continues to fight. And with the risks stacked against him, the former governor has resorted to ugly messaging in the final days.

Following extensive launching various attacks at his opponent to see what might resonate, Cuomo has narrowed his focus on attacking the candidate personally. He has called his rival, who was of Ugandan origin to Indian parents, an “extremist”, and appeared on Fox Business for an interview with Maria Bartiromo, where the candidate asserted New York “will not survive” his opponent as city leader. It reached a nadir last week, when Cuomo chuckled and said “that’s another problem” after a broadcaster said the candidate would “cheer” another 9/11-style attack.

Political Landscape

The line of attack mirrors much of what Trump, who has deployed the national guard to the capital and threatened to do the same to New York, has said about Mamdani, and perhaps that shouldn’t come as a surprise. A set of billionaire New Yorkers, including some who donated to the Republican in the last presidential race, have pumped millions into trying to get Cuomo elected, as other influential figures have urged Curtis Sliwa to drop out from the contest.

Candidate Backgrounds

For the his team, and his wealthy backers, are concerned, it should never have come to this. When Mamdani, one of 150 state legislators, started his campaign for mayor in last year, few had known him, and in truth, few even noticed.

Cuomo, by comparison, entered smoothly into the race in March 2025 and became the instant favorite. He was the big beast who apparently held all the advantages. The quintessential establishment figure, he had married a Kennedy and worked in a Democratic presidency. He became the state's leader in over a decade ago, 17 years after his father, Mario Cuomo, left office from the identical role.

The progressive, who was voted in to the New York state assembly in 2020, does not have the comparable background. But his dedication to providing free buses and free childcare – along with the freeze-the-rent pledge – offer a more positive vision of the future than Cuomo’s dire warnings about “mayhem” and unfettered crime, and his vow to hire more police officers.

Campaign Controversies

Nevertheless, Mamdani has faced some challenges in recent days, after footage emerged appearing to show him implying the NYPD and the IDF were intertwined.

“We have to make clear that when the pressure of the NYPD is on your neck, it’s been laced by the Israeli military,” Mamdani said in the clip, filmed at a DSA convention in 2023. Mamdani, 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.

Powerful Moment

With the election nearing, Mamdani appears to have won sympathy and support, however, for his response to Cuomo’s increasing rhetoric.

Mamdani responded to the independent's 9/11 remarks in an heartfelt recording. In it, Mamdani remembered how, when he first ran for state assembly, a Muslim uncle suggested to him that he did not have to disclose about his religion. It was a realization, he 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 hidden spaces alone where followers of Islam could embrace their full identities, and that if we were to emerge from those shadows, then it is in those silence that we must set aside our beliefs.”

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