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Residents of the Big Apple will discover the identity of their next mayor this election day, in a contest 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 urban center.

Against that backdrop, New York has witnessed a mayoral election that has pitted two very different Democratic figures against each other. The election has become an acrimonious face-off, marked by alleged racial bias and anti-Muslim sentiment, but it is the political differences between the two main contenders that could have major implications for how the Democratic party fares in next year's congressional races.

The Rising Progressive

On the left side is the democratic socialist, the 34-year-old progressive candidate whose rapid ascent and grassroots campaign has attracted international attention. Representing the old guard is the former governor, the former Democratic New York governor now running as an independent – and enjoying the support of ultra-rich donors and corporations.

With days to go, it is Mamdani, the former longshot who beat his opponent in the Democratic primary who is solidly positioned as the frontrunner. The candidate, who has run on a agenda of affordability and pledged to freeze rent for about 2 million New Yorkers, has outpaced Cuomo by significant margins in every poll conducted in the fall, and it is very much the younger man's race to lose.

The Controversial Campaign

However, the former governor, who resigned as governor in recent years amid accusations of misconduct, has made it clear he will fight to the finish, and not necessarily in an above-the-belt manner. He has criticized his opponent's goals as unrealistic, and in the final stretch chuckled along as a radio host made anti-Muslim comments about the candidate, who is Muslim. Recently, the independent was widely condemned as racist after posting an artificial intelligence video that included a series of racial caricatures and showed his opponent freeing a convicts.

It's been a particularly ugly end to an election that could be key to the path that the Democratic party, struggling in its reaction to the former president's authoritarian grabs, adopts in the coming years.

National Implications

If the progressive secures a clear victory, the establishment party leaders who have refused to endorse his campaign will be compelled to address a platform that has resonated with Americans' anger at inequality, soaring price rises and the political elite. It would be hard for Chuck Schumer and Hakeem Jeffries not to adopt at least a portion of the candidate's progressive proposals about economic justice, given the newcomer has generated an excitement within the Democratic ranks arguably not seen since the Vermont senator ran for president eight years ago.

However, if Cuomo, who had been predicted to sail to victory in the June primary, achieve a remarkable riches-to-rags-to-riches win, it could cement the party's existing approach of considered, uninspiring opposition – a tactic that has angered grassroots members. A New York defeat of the progressive's optimistic platform could convince Schumer and Jeffries that the wisest course is to stick to the center – even as polls show the present version of the party is deeply unpopular nationwide.

Voter Enthusiasm

Residents of the city seem to prefer the Mamdani vision. Polls show that his backers are much more excited about their choice than Cuomo backers, something that has been apparent during the race. The candidate's engaging content on social media, his optimistic vision for the city and his willingness to actually venture out and meet people in the metropolis has drawn an force of more than 50,000 volunteers, many of them young or new participants.

Negative Tactics

However, the former governor, 67, continues to fight. And with the stakes against him, the ex-leader has resorted to ugly messaging in recent weeks.

After spending months launching various attacks at Mamdani to see what might stick, Cuomo has concentrated on targeting the candidate directly. He has labelled his rival, who was born in Uganda to Indian parents, an "radical", and appeared on Fox Business for an interview with a rightwing host, where the candidate claimed the city “will not survive” Mamdani as mayor. It reached a nadir recently, when Cuomo chuckled and said “that’s another problem” after a radio host said Mamdani would “cheer” another terrorist attack.

Campaign Dynamics

The line of attack mirrors much of what the former president, who has sent the national guard to Washington DC and warned to do the same to NYC, has said about the progressive, 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 invested heavily into trying to get the independent elected, as other influential figures have pressured the Republican candidate to withdraw from the race.

Political Histories

For the his team, and his billionaire supporters, are concerned, it should never have come to this point. When Mamdani, one of 150 New York state assembly members, launched his campaign for mayor in October 2024, few had heard of him, and in reality, few even noticed.

The former governor, by comparison, entered smoothly into the race in March 2025 and became the instant favorite. He was the big beast who apparently held every edge. The classic establishment figure, he had married a Kennedy and served in a Democratic presidency. He became New York governor in over a decade ago, seventeen years after his parent, the former governor, stepped down from the same position.

Mamdani, who was voted in to the state legislature in recently, does not have the same political heritage. But his commitment to providing free buses and affordable child services – along with the freeze-the-rent pledge – present a brighter outlook of the city's direction than Cuomo’s dire warnings about “mayhem” and rising criminal activity, and his vow to increase police presence.

Campaign Controversies

Still, Mamdani has faced some challenges in recent days, after video emerged suggesting 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 NYPD is on your throat, it’s been influenced by the Israeli military,” the candidate said in the recording, recorded at a Democratic Socialists of America convention in recent years. The progressive, a vocal opponent of the Israeli government who has said the nation is engaging in atrocities in the Palestinian territory, indicated he was questioning cooperative programs between the NYPD and Israeli forces.

Emotional Response

As the race closes, the candidate appears to have won empathy and backing, however, for his reaction to his opponent's increasing rhetoric.

The progressive addressed the independent's terrorism comments in an heartfelt recording. In it, Mamdani recalled how, when he first campaigned for state assembly, 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 security could only be found in the margins of our city. That it is in those shadows alone where Muslims could embrace their true selves, and that if we were to emerge from those seclusion, then it is in those silence that we must leave our beliefs.”

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