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New Yorkers will learn the identity of their next mayor this election day, in a contest that will determine who governs and protects the country's largest city at a moment when Donald Trump has vowed to deploy military troops to the city.

In this context, New York has witnessed a mayoral election that has matched two very different Democrats against one another. The election has turned into an acrimonious showdown, marked by accusations of racism and Islamophobia, but it is the political differences between the two main contenders that could have significant consequences for how the party performs in next year's congressional races.

The Rising Progressive

On the left side is the democratic socialist, the 34-year-old progressive candidate whose meteoric rise and grassroots campaign has attracted international attention. Representing the old guard is the former governor, the former Democratic New York governor now campaigning independently – and enjoying the support of ultra-rich donors and corporations.

With days to go, it is the progressive, the former longshot who beat his opponent in the Democratic primary who is firmly installed as the frontrunner. The candidate, who has run on a platform of affordability and promised to halt rent increases for about two million New Yorkers, has led Cuomo by significant margins in every poll taken in October, and it is very much the younger man's election to throw away.

The Controversial Campaign

Yet, the former governor, who resigned as the state's leader in 2021 amid accusations of sexual harassment, has stated clearly he will battle to the finish, and not necessarily in an above-the-belt manner. He has criticized Mamdani's goals as unachievable, and in the final stretch chuckled along as a radio host made Islamophobic remarks about Mamdani, who is Muslim. Two weeks ago, the independent was widely condemned as bigoted after posting an AI-generated ad that featured a slew of racial caricatures and showed Mamdani releasing a group of criminals.

This represents a rather grubby end to an election that could be critical to the path that the party, floundering in its reaction to Trump's authoritarian grabs, adopts in the near future.

National Implications

If the progressive wins convincingly, the party establishment who have refused to endorse his campaign will be compelled to address a platform that has resonated with voters' frustration at economic disparity, inflation and the political elite. It would be difficult for the Senate leader and the House leader not to embrace at least some of the candidate's ambitious ideas about affordability, given the newcomer has generated an enthusiasm within the Democratic ranks perhaps not seen since Bernie Sanders ran for president eight years ago.

However, should the former governor, who had been predicted to win easily in the Democratic primary, achieve a remarkable riches-to-rags-to-riches win, it could cement the party's current model of considered, uninspiring resistance – a strategy that has angered grassroots members. A New York rejection of Mamdani's optimistic platform could persuade party leaders that the best plan is to remain in the political center – even as surveys show the present version of the Democratic party is deeply unpopular across the country.

Campaign Energy

Voters in New York seem to prefer the progressive agenda. Polls show that his backers are much more excited about their candidate than Cuomo backers, something that has been evident during the race. Mamdani's engaging content on digital platforms, his optimistic vision for New York and his willingness to actually get out and connect with voters in the metropolis has drawn an army of over fifty thousand volunteers, many of them young or new participants.

Negative Tactics

However, Cuomo, 67, continues to fight. And with the risks stacked against him, the former governor has resorted to ugly messaging in the final days.

After spending months throwing basically everything at Mamdani to see what might stick, the independent has concentrated on targeting Mamdani directly. He has labelled Mamdani, who was born in Uganda to South Asian heritage, an “extremist”, and popped up on Fox Business for an discussion with Maria Bartiromo, where Cuomo claimed New York “will not survive” Mamdani as mayor. It hit bottom last week, when the former governor chuckled and said “that’s another problem” after a broadcaster said the candidate would “cheer” another terrorist attack.

Campaign Dynamics

This strategy mirrors much of what the former president, who has deployed the military reserves to the capital and warned to do the same to New York, has said about Mamdani, and maybe 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 elect Cuomo elected, as other influential figures have urged Curtis Sliwa to drop out from the contest.

Candidate Backgrounds

For the Cuomo camp, and his wealthy backers, are worried, it should not have reached to this. When the assemblyman, one of 150 New York state assembly members, launched his campaign for mayor in last year, not many had known him, and in reality, barely anyone even noticed.

The former governor, by contrast, entered smoothly into the race in this year and became the immediate frontrunner. He was the big beast who apparently held all the advantages. The classic establishment figure, he had wed a political dynasty member and worked in Bill Clinton’s administration. He assumed office as New York governor in 2011, seventeen years after his parent, Mario Cuomo, stepped down from the identical role.

Mamdani, who was elected to the state legislature in recently, does not have the comparable background. But his commitment to providing free buses and affordable child services – along with the rent control promise – offer a more positive vision of the city's direction than his opponent's dire warnings about “mayhem” and unfettered crime, and his vow to increase police presence.

Campaign Controversies

Nevertheless, Mamdani has encountered some challenges in recent days, after footage emerged suggesting him implying the NYPD and the IDF were connected.

“We have to make clear that when the boot of the NYPD is on your neck, it’s been laced by the IDF,” Mamdani said in the clip, filmed at a Democratic Socialists of America convention in 2023. Mamdani, a longtime critic of Israel who has said the nation is committing genocide in Gaza, suggested he was questioning cooperative programs between the city police and Israeli forces.

Powerful Moment

As the race closes, the candidate seems to have gained sympathy and support, however, for his reaction to his opponent's escalating attacks.

Mamdani addressed the independent's terrorism comments in an emotional video. In it, the candidate remembered how, when he first ran for the legislature, a Muslim uncle suggested to him that he did not have to disclose about his Muslim faith. It was a realization, Mamdani said, that many Muslim New Yorkers had been taught “again and again”: “That safety could only be found in the margins of our city. That it is in those hidden spaces alone where Muslims could express their full identities, and that if we were to emerge from those seclusion, then it is in those silence that we must leave our faith.”

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