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New Yorkers will discover who will be their next mayor this election day, in a race that will decide who runs and protects the nation's largest city at a time when Donald Trump has vowed to send armed forces to the city.

Against that backdrop, New York has experienced a mayoral election that has pitted two very different Democrats against each other. The contest has turned into an acrimonious face-off, marked by accusations of racism and Islamophobia, but it is the political differences between the two main candidates that could have major implications for how the Democratic party fares in next year's midterm elections.

The Rising Progressive

In the progressive corner is the democratic socialist, the 34-year-old democratic socialist 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 running as an independent – and enjoying the support of ultra-rich donors and big business.

As the election approaches, it is the progressive, the one-time underdog who beat his opponent in the party primary who is solidly positioned as the leading candidate. The candidate, who has campaigned on a agenda of affordability and pledged to freeze rent for about two million city residents, has led Cuomo by double-digits in every poll taken in October, and it is very much the progressive's race to throw away.

The Controversial Campaign

Yet, the former governor, who resigned as the state's leader in 2021 amid allegations of misconduct, has stated clearly he will battle to the finish, and not necessarily in an above-the-belt fashion. He has trashed Mamdani's goals as unachievable, and in the final stretch chuckled along as a broadcaster made Islamophobic remarks about Mamdani, who is a Muslim. Recently, the independent was widely condemned as racist after posting an AI-generated ad that featured a series of racial caricatures and showed Mamdani releasing a group of criminals.

It's been a particularly ugly conclusion to an race that could be critical to the direction that the Democratic party, struggling in its response to Trump's power moves, adopts in the near future.

Broader Consequences

Should Mamdani secures a clear victory, the party establishment who have declined to support his bid will be forced to reckon with 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 a portion of the candidate's progressive proposals about affordability, given the newcomer has generated an excitement within the Democratic ranks perhaps not seen since the Vermont senator ran for president eight years ago.

Conversely, should the former governor, who had been expected to sail to victory in the June primary, complete a remarkable comeback victory, it could reinforce the party's current model of cautious, uninspiring opposition – a tactic that has angered the party base. A NYC defeat of the progressive's optimistic platform could persuade Schumer and Jeffries that the best plan is to stick to the political center – even as surveys show the present version of the party is deeply unpopular across the country.

Campaign Energy

Voters in New York seem to prefer the progressive agenda. Surveys show that his backers are much more excited about their choice than Cuomo backers, something that has been evident throughout the campaign. Mamdani's snappy videos on social media, his hopeful outlook for New York and his readiness to actually venture out and connect with voters in the metropolis has attracted an army of over fifty thousand supporters, many of them youth or new participants.

Negative Tactics

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

After spending months throwing basically everything at his opponent to see what might stick, the independent has concentrated on attacking the candidate personally. He has labelled Mamdani, who was born in Uganda to South Asian heritage, an “extremist”, and popped up on conservative media for an interview with a rightwing host, where Cuomo asserted New York “will not survive” Mamdani as mayor. It hit bottom last week, when Cuomo chuckled and said “that’s another problem” after a radio host said Mamdani would “cheer” another terrorist incident.

Campaign Dynamics

This strategy mirrors much of what the former president, who has sent the national guard to Washington DC and threatened to do the same to NYC, has said about Mamdani, and maybe that shouldn’t come as a surprise. A group of wealthy residents, including some who donated to the Republican in the 2024 election, have invested heavily into trying to elect the independent into office, as other influential figures have pressured Curtis Sliwa to withdraw from the race.

Candidate Backgrounds

As far as the Cuomo camp, and his billionaire supporters, are concerned, it should not have reached to this point. When Mamdani, one of one hundred fifty state legislators, started his campaign for mayor in last year, not many had heard of him, and in reality, barely anyone even noticed.

Cuomo, by contrast, eased his way into the race in this year and became the instant favorite. He was the political heavyweight who seemingly held every edge. The classic establishment figure, he had married a political dynasty member and worked in a Democratic presidency. He became New York governor in 2011, seventeen years after his parent, the former governor, stepped down from the identical role.

Mamdani, who was voted in to the New York state assembly in recently, does not have the same political heritage. But his dedication to providing no-cost transit and affordable child services – along with the rent control promise – present a more positive vision of the city's direction than his opponent's pessimistic predictions about “mayhem” and unfettered crime, and his vow to increase police presence.

Campaign Controversies

Nevertheless, Mamdani has encountered some challenges in the final phase, after video emerged suggesting him implying the New York police department and the IDF were connected.

“We have to make clear that when the pressure of the NYPD is on your throat, it’s been influenced by the Israeli military,” the candidate said in the clip, filmed at a Democratic Socialists of America convention in 2023. The progressive, a longtime critic of Israel who has said the country is committing genocide in the Palestinian territory, indicated he was criticizing joint training exercises between the city police and IDF.

Powerful Moment

With the election nearing, the candidate seems to have gained empathy and backing, 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 campaigned for the legislature, a family member suggested to him that he did not have to disclose about his religion. It was a lesson, he said, that many local Muslims had been taught “again and again”: “That security could only be found in the margins of our community. That it is in those hidden spaces alone where followers of Islam could express their true selves, and that if we were to step out from those seclusion, then it is in those silence that we must leave our faith.”

Addressing the behavior of his opponents, who has claimed Mamd