🔗 Share this article

New Yorkers will learn the identity of their new city leader this Tuesday, in a race that will determine who governs and defends the country's largest city at a time when the former president has vowed to send military troops to the city.

In this context, New York has witnessed a race for mayor that has matched two very different Democratic figures against each other. The contest has become an increasingly bitter face-off, marked by accusations of racism and Islamophobia, but it is the political differences between the two main contenders that could have major implications for how the party performs in next year's midterm elections.

The Progressive Challenger

On the left side is the democratic socialist, the young progressive candidate whose rapid ascent and grassroots campaign has brought 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 one-time underdog who defeated Cuomo in the party primary who is firmly installed as the leading candidate. Mamdani, who has campaigned on a platform of affordability and pledged to freeze rent for about two million New Yorkers, has led his rival by significant margins across all surveys taken in October, and it is very much the younger man's race to throw away.

The Controversial Campaign

Yet, the former governor, who stepped down as governor in 2021 amid accusations of misconduct, has stated clearly he will fight to the finish, and not necessarily in an above-the-belt fashion. He has criticized his opponent's goals as unachievable, and in the final stretch laughed as a radio host made anti-Muslim comments about the candidate, who is Muslim. Two weeks ago, the independent was strongly criticized as bigoted after sharing an AI-generated ad that included a series of racial caricatures and showed Mamdani releasing a group of criminals.

This represents a particularly ugly conclusion to an election that could be critical to the path that the Democratic party, floundering in its response to the former president's power moves, adopts in the coming years.

Broader Consequences

If Mamdani wins convincingly, the party establishment who have declined to support his bid will be forced to reckon with a message that has appealed to voters' anger at economic disparity, soaring price rises and the establishment. It would be difficult for the Senate leader and the House leader not to adopt at least some of Mamdani's progressive proposals about economic justice, given the newcomer has generated an excitement within the party perhaps not seen since Bernie Sanders campaigned for the White House in 2016.

Conversely, if the former governor, who had been expected to win easily in the Democratic primary, achieve a surprising riches-to-rags-to-riches victory, it could reinforce the party's current model of cautious, lackluster resistance – a strategy that has infuriated grassroots members. A New York rejection of the progressive's optimistic platform could convince party leaders that the wisest course is to stick to the center – even as polls show the present version of the party is deeply unpopular nationwide.

Campaign Energy

Voters in New York seem to prefer the Mamdani vision. Surveys show that his backers are far more enthusiastic about their choice than Cuomo backers, something that has been evident throughout the campaign. The candidate's engaging content on digital platforms, his optimistic vision for New York and his willingness to actually get out and meet people in the metropolis has drawn an force of more than 50,000 supporters, many of them young or new participants.

Personal Attacks

However, Cuomo, 67, continues to fight. And with the risks stacked against him, the ex-leader has resorted to negative campaigning in recent weeks.

After spending months launching various attacks at his opponent to see what might stick, Cuomo has concentrated on targeting Mamdani personally. He has called Mamdani, who was of Ugandan origin to South Asian heritage, an "radical", and appeared on conservative media for an discussion with a rightwing host, where Cuomo asserted the city “will not survive” his opponent as city leader. It hit bottom recently, when Cuomo laughed along and said “that’s another problem” after a radio host said Mamdani would “cheer” another 9/11-style attack.

Campaign Dynamics

This strategy echoes much of what Trump, who has deployed the military reserves to Washington DC and warned to take similar action 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 the independent into office, as other powerful voices have pressured Curtis Sliwa to drop out from the contest.

Candidate Backgrounds

As far as the Cuomo camp, and his billionaire supporters, are worried, it should never have come to this. When the assemblyman, one of one hundred fifty state legislators, launched his campaign for mayor in October 2024, not many had heard of him, and in truth, few even paid attention.

The former governor, by comparison, entered smoothly into the contest in March 2025 and became the instant favorite. He was the political heavyweight who apparently held all the advantages. The classic political insider, he had married a Kennedy and served in a Democratic presidency. He assumed office as New York governor in 2011, seventeen years after his parent, Mario Cuomo, left office from the identical role.

Mamdani, who was voted in 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 – present a brighter outlook of the future than Cuomo’s dire warnings about “mayhem” and rising criminal activity, and his promise to increase police presence.

Campaign Controversies

Still, Mamdani has encountered difficulties in the final phase, after footage emerged appearing to show him implying the NYPD and the Israel Defense Forces were intertwined.

“We have to make clear that when the boot of the NYPD is on your neck, it’s been influenced by the Israeli military,” the candidate said in the clip, recorded at a DSA gathering in 2023. Mamdani, a vocal opponent of the Israeli government who has said the nation is engaging in atrocities in the Palestinian territory, indicated he was criticizing joint training exercises between the city police and Israeli forces.

Emotional Response

With the election nearing, Mamdani seems to have gained sympathy and support, however, for his response to Cuomo’s escalating attacks.

Mamdani responded to the independent's 9/11 remarks in an heartfelt recording. In it, Mamdani remembered how, when he first campaigned for the legislature, a family member advised to him that he did not have to tell people about his Muslim faith. It was a lesson, Mamdani said, that many Muslim New Yorkers had been told “again and again”: “That safety could only be found in the shadows of our community. That it is in those shadows alone where followers of Islam could express their full identities, and that if we were to step out from those seclusion, then it is in those silence that we must set aside our beliefs.”

Speaking to the behavior of Cuomo and Sliwa, who has claimed Mamd