🔗 Share this article

New Yorkers will discover the identity of their next mayor this Tuesday, in a race that will determine who runs and protects the country's largest city at a time when the former president has threatened to deploy military troops to the city.

In this context, New York has witnessed a race for mayor that has pitted two very different Democrats against each other. The election has turned into an increasingly bitter face-off, marked by accusations of racism and anti-Muslim sentiment, but it is the ideological divide between the two main contenders that could have major implications for how the Democratic party performs in next year's congressional races.

The Progressive Challenger

On the left side is the democratic socialist, the 34-year-old progressive candidate whose rapid ascent and grassroots campaign has brought global notice. On the establishment side is Andrew Cuomo, the ex- Democratic New York governor now running as an independent – and benefiting from the backing of ultra-rich donors and corporations.

With days to go, it is the progressive, the one-time underdog who beat Cuomo in the party primary who is solidly positioned as the frontrunner. The candidate, who has campaigned on a platform of affordability and promised to halt rent increases for about two million city residents, has outpaced his rival by significant margins across all surveys conducted in the fall, and it is very much the younger man's election to throw away.

A Bitter Contest

Yet, Cuomo, who stepped down as governor in recent years amid allegations of sexual harassment, has stated clearly he will battle to the finish, and not necessarily in an fair manner. He has criticized his opponent's objectives as unrealistic, and in the final stretch chuckled along as a radio host made Islamophobic remarks about Mamdani, who is Muslim. Two weeks ago, Cuomo was strongly criticized as racist after sharing an artificial intelligence video that included a slew of racial caricatures and showed Mamdani freeing a convicts.

This represents a rather grubby conclusion to an election that could be key to the direction that the party, struggling in its response to Trump's authoritarian grabs, adopts in the near future.

National Implications

If Mamdani wins convincingly, the party establishment who have refused to endorse his campaign will be compelled to address a message that has resonated with Americans' frustration at economic disparity, inflation and the political elite. It would be difficult for the Senate leader and Hakeem Jeffries not to adopt at least a portion of the candidate's ambitious ideas about affordability, given the fresh face has created an enthusiasm within the Democratic ranks arguably not seen since the Vermont senator ran for president eight years ago.

Conversely, if 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 reinforce national Democrats' existing approach of considered, lackluster resistance – a tactic that has infuriated grassroots members. A New York rejection of Mamdani's optimistic platform could persuade Schumer and Jeffries that the best plan is to stick to the political center – even as polls show the current iteration of the party is deeply unpopular nationwide.

Voter Enthusiasm

Voters in the city appear to favor the Mamdani vision. Surveys show that Mamdani supporters are much more excited about their choice than Cuomo backers, something that has been apparent during the race. Mamdani's snappy videos on digital platforms, his hopeful outlook for the city and his readiness to actually get out and meet people in the city has attracted an army of over fifty thousand volunteers, many of them young or first-time voters.

Personal Attacks

However, Cuomo, in his late sixties, continues to fight. And with the risks against him, the former governor has turned to ugly messaging in recent weeks.

Following extensive throwing basically everything at Mamdani to see what might stick, the independent has narrowed his focus on attacking Mamdani directly. He has labelled Mamdani, who was born in Uganda to South Asian heritage, an “extremist”, and appeared on Fox Business for an discussion with Maria Bartiromo, where Cuomo claimed the city “will not survive” Mamdani as city leader. It hit bottom last week, when Cuomo chuckled and said “that’s another problem” after a broadcaster said Mamdani would “cheer” another terrorist incident.

Political Landscape

This strategy mirrors much of what the former president, who has sent the military reserves to Washington DC and warned to do the same to New York, has said about Mamdani, and perhaps that shouldn’t come as a surprise. A group of billionaire New Yorkers, including some who donated to Trump in the last presidential race, have invested heavily into trying to elect Cuomo elected, as other influential figures have pressured Curtis Sliwa to withdraw from the contest.

Candidate Backgrounds

As far as the his team, and his wealthy backers, are concerned, it should never have come to this point. When Mamdani, one of one hundred fifty state legislators, started his mayoral bid in last year, not many had known him, and in truth, few even paid attention.

Cuomo, by contrast, entered smoothly into the contest in this year and became the immediate frontrunner. He was the political heavyweight who seemingly held all the advantages. The quintessential establishment figure, he had married a political dynasty member and served in Bill Clinton’s administration. He became the state's leader in over a decade ago, 17 years after his father, the former governor, stepped down from the identical role.

The progressive, who was voted in to the state legislature in recently, does not have the comparable background. But his commitment to providing no-cost transit and free childcare – along with the rent control promise – offer a more positive vision of the future than Cuomo’s dire warnings about “mayhem” and unfettered crime, and his promise to hire more police officers.

Campaign Controversies

Still, the candidate has encountered some challenges in the final phase, after footage surfaced suggesting him implying the NYPD and the Israel Defense Forces were intertwined.

“We have to make clear that when the boot of the police is on your throat, it’s been influenced by the IDF,” Mamdani said in the recording, 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, suggested he was criticizing cooperative programs between the city police and IDF.

Emotional Response

With the election nearing, Mamdani seems to have gained empathy and backing, however, for his reaction to his opponent's increasing rhetoric.

The progressive addressed Cuomo’s 9/11 remarks in an emotional video. In it, the candidate remembered how, when he first ran for state assembly, a family member suggested to him that he did not have to tell people about his religion. It was a lesson, he 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 shadows, then it is in those shadows that we must set aside our beliefs.”

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