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New Yorkers will discover who will be their next mayor this election day, in a contest that will determine who runs and defends the country's largest city at a moment when Donald Trump has threatened to send military troops to the urban center.

Against that backdrop, New York has witnessed a mayoral election that has pitted two very different Democrats against each other. The election has become an increasingly bitter face-off, laced with accusations of racial bias and anti-Muslim sentiment, but it is the political differences between the two main candidates that could have major implications for how the Democratic party performs in next year's midterm elections.

The Rising Progressive

On the left side is Zohran Mamdani, the 34-year-old democratic socialist whose meteoric rise and people-powered movement has attracted international attention. On the establishment side is the former governor, the ex- Democratic New York governor now campaigning independently – and benefiting from the backing of ultra-rich donors and big business.

With days to go, it is Mamdani, the former longshot who defeated his opponent in the party primary who is solidly positioned as the frontrunner. The candidate, who has run on a agenda of affordability and promised to halt rent increases for about two million city residents, has led Cuomo by significant margins across all surveys conducted in the fall, and it is very much the progressive's election to lose.

A Bitter Contest

However, Cuomo, who stepped down as the state's leader in recent years amid allegations of misconduct, has stated clearly he will battle to the finish, and not necessarily in an fair manner. He has trashed Mamdani's goals as unrealistic, and in the final stretch chuckled along as a broadcaster made Islamophobic remarks about the candidate, who is Muslim. Two weeks ago, the independent was widely condemned as bigoted after sharing an artificial intelligence video that featured a series of racist stereotypes and showed Mamdani releasing a convicts.

This represents a rather grubby conclusion to an election that could be critical to the direction that the Democratic party, struggling in its response to Trump's authoritarian grabs, takes in the near future.

National Implications

Should the progressive wins convincingly, the establishment party leaders who have refused to endorse his campaign will be compelled to address a platform that has appealed to voters' frustration at economic disparity, soaring price rises and the establishment. It would be difficult for the Senate leader and Hakeem Jeffries 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 party perhaps not witnessed since the Vermont senator ran for president eight years ago.

Conversely, should Cuomo, who had been predicted to win easily in the June primary, complete a surprising riches-to-rags-to-riches victory, it could reinforce the party's existing approach of considered, uninspiring resistance – a strategy that has angered grassroots members. A New York defeat of Mamdani's progressive, positive message could persuade Schumer and Jeffries that the best plan is to remain in the political center – even as polls show the present version of the Democratic party is deeply unpopular across the country.

Voter Enthusiasm

Voters in New York appear to favor the Mamdani vision. Polls show that his backers are far more enthusiastic about their candidate than Cuomo backers, something that has been apparent during the race. Mamdani's snappy videos on digital platforms, his optimistic vision for the city and his readiness to actually get out and connect with voters in the city has drawn an army of more than 50,000 volunteers, many of them youth or new participants.

Personal Attacks

Yet, Cuomo, in his late sixties, isn't giving up. And with the risks stacked against him, the ex-leader has resorted to negative campaigning in the final days.

After spending months launching various attacks at Mamdani to see what might resonate, Cuomo has concentrated on targeting the candidate directly. He has called his rival, who was of Ugandan origin to South Asian heritage, 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 hit bottom recently, when the former governor chuckled and said “that’s another problem” after a radio host said the candidate would “cheer” another terrorist attack.

Campaign Dynamics

The line of attack echoes much of what Trump, who has sent the military reserves to the capital and warned to do the same to NYC, has said about Mamdani, and perhaps that shouldn’t come as a surprise. A set of billionaire New Yorkers, including some who contributed to Trump in the 2024 election, have pumped millions into trying to get the independent elected, as other powerful voices have pressured Curtis Sliwa to withdraw from the contest.

Political Histories

As far as the his team, and his billionaire supporters, are concerned, it should never have come to this point. When the assemblyman, one of 150 state legislators, started his campaign for mayor in October 2024, not many had heard of him, and in reality, few even noticed.

Cuomo, by comparison, eased his way into the race in March 2025 and became the instant favorite. He was the big beast who apparently held all the advantages. The classic political insider, he had wed 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 parent, Mario Cuomo, stepped down 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 commitment to providing no-cost transit and free childcare – along with the freeze-the-rent pledge – offer a more positive vision of the future than his opponent's pessimistic predictions about “mayhem” and rising criminal activity, and his vow to hire more police officers.

Recent Challenges

Nevertheless, the candidate has encountered difficulties in recent days, after video surfaced appearing to show him suggesting the New York police department and the Israel Defense Forces were intertwined.

“We have to make clear that when the pressure of the police is on your throat, it’s been laced by the IDF,” the candidate said in the recording, recorded at a Democratic Socialists of America convention in 2023. Mamdani, a vocal opponent of the Israeli government who has said the nation is engaging in atrocities in the Palestinian territory, suggested he was questioning joint training exercises between the city police and Israeli forces.

Powerful Moment

As the race closes, Mamdani seems to have gained empathy and backing, however, for his response to his opponent's escalating attacks.

The progressive addressed the independent's 9/11 remarks in an emotional video. In it, the candidate recalled how, when he first campaigned for the legislature, a Muslim uncle advised to him that he did not have to tell people about his Muslim faith. It was a lesson, he said, that many local Muslims had been taught “again and again”: “That safety could only be found in the margins of our community. That it is in those shadows alone where Muslims could express their full identities, and that if we were to emerge from those shadows, then it is in those shadows that we must leave our faith.”

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