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Residents of the Big Apple will discover the identity of their next mayor this election day, in a race that will determine who runs and protects the nation's largest city at a moment when Donald Trump has vowed to deploy armed forces to the city.

In this context, New York has experienced a mayoral election that has matched two very different Democrats against one another. 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 significant consequences for how the Democratic party performs in next year's congressional races.

The Rising Progressive

On the left side is the democratic socialist, the young democratic socialist whose rapid ascent and grassroots campaign has brought international attention. On the establishment side is Andrew Cuomo, the former New York governor now campaigning independently – and benefiting from the support of ultra-rich donors and big business.

With days to go, it is the progressive, the one-time underdog who beat Cuomo in the party primary who is firmly installed as the leading candidate. The candidate, who has run on a platform of economic justice and promised to halt rent increases for about 2 million city residents, has led Cuomo by significant margins across all surveys conducted in October, and it is very much the younger man's election to throw away.

A Bitter Contest

However, the former governor, who resigned as governor in 2021 amid allegations of misconduct, has made it clear he will fight to the end, and not necessarily in an above-the-belt manner. He has criticized his opponent's objectives as unrealistic, and in the final stretch laughed as a radio host made Islamophobic remarks about the candidate, who is Muslim. Recently, Cuomo was strongly criticized as racist after posting an artificial intelligence video that featured a slew of racist stereotypes and showed Mamdani releasing a group of criminals.

It's been a rather grubby end to an election that could be key to the path that the Democratic party, struggling in its response to Trump's power moves, takes in the coming years.

Broader Consequences

If Mamdani secures a clear victory, the party establishment who have declined to support his campaign will be forced to reckon with a platform that has appealed to voters' frustration at inequality, inflation and the political elite. It would be hard for Chuck Schumer and Hakeem Jeffries not to embrace at least some of the candidate's progressive proposals about affordability, given the newcomer has generated an excitement within the Democratic ranks perhaps not witnessed since the Vermont senator ran for president in 2016.

However, if Cuomo, who had been predicted to sail to victory in the Democratic primary, complete a remarkable riches-to-rags-to-riches victory, it could reinforce national Democrats' current model of cautious, lackluster resistance – a tactic that has infuriated the party base. A New York defeat of Mamdani's optimistic platform could convince Schumer and Jeffries that the best plan is to remain in the political center – even as surveys show the current iteration of the party is widely disliked nationwide.

Campaign Energy

Residents of the city seem to prefer the Mamdani vision. Polls show that his backers are much more excited about their choice than his opponent's supporters, something that has been evident during the race. The candidate's engaging content on social media, his hopeful outlook for New York and his willingness to actually get out and connect with voters in the metropolis has attracted an army of over fifty thousand supporters, many of them youth or first-time voters.

Personal Attacks

However, Cuomo, 67, isn't giving up. And with the risks against him, the ex-leader has turned to ugly messaging in recent weeks.

After spending months launching various attacks at Mamdani to see what might resonate, the independent has narrowed his focus on targeting Mamdani directly. He has called Mamdani, who was born in Uganda to Indian parents, an "radical", and popped up on conservative media for an interview with a rightwing host, where Cuomo asserted the city “will not survive” Mamdani as city leader. It reached a nadir recently, when Cuomo laughed along and said “that’s another problem” after a radio host said Mamdani would “cheer” another 9/11-style incident.

Political Landscape

This strategy mirrors much of what Trump, who has sent the national guard to Washington DC and warned to take similar action to NYC, has said about Mamdani, and perhaps that is expected. A set of wealthy residents, including some who donated to the Republican in the 2024 election, have invested heavily into trying to get the independent into office, as other influential figures have urged the Republican candidate to drop out from the contest.

Candidate Backgrounds

As far as the his team, and his wealthy backers, are worried, it should never have come to this. When the assemblyman, one of one hundred fifty New York state assembly members, started his mayoral bid in October 2024, not many had known him, and in reality, few even paid attention.

The former governor, by comparison, entered smoothly into the contest in March 2025 and became the immediate frontrunner. He was the big beast who apparently held all the advantages. The classic political insider, he had wed a political dynasty member and worked in a Democratic presidency. He became New York governor in over a decade ago, 17 years after his parent, Mario Cuomo, left office from the identical role.

Mamdani, who was voted in to the New York state assembly in recently, does not have the comparable background. But his commitment to providing no-cost transit and affordable child services – along with the freeze-the-rent pledge – offer a brighter outlook of the future than his opponent's pessimistic predictions about “mayhem” and unfettered crime, and his promise to hire more police officers.

Recent Challenges

Still, the candidate has faced some challenges in the final phase, after video emerged appearing to show him implying 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 influenced by the Israeli military,” Mamdani said in the clip, filmed at a DSA gathering in 2023. Mamdani, a longtime critic of Israel who has said the nation is committing genocide in the Palestinian territory, indicated he was questioning joint training exercises between the NYPD and Israeli forces.

Powerful Moment

As the race closes, Mamdani appears to have won sympathy and support, however, for his reaction to his opponent's escalating attacks.

The progressive responded to 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 tell people about his Muslim faith. It was a lesson, he said, that many local Muslims had been taught “again and again”: “That security could only be found in the shadows of our city. That it is in those shadows alone where Muslims could express their true selves, and that if we were to emerge from those shadows, then it is in those shadows that we must set aside our beliefs.”

Speaking to the actions of his opponents, who has claimed Mamd