🔗 Share this article

New Yorkers will find out the identity of their next mayor this Tuesday, in a race that will determine who governs and protects the nation's largest city at a time when Donald Trump has threatened to send military troops to the urban center.

In this context, New York has experienced a race for mayor that has pitted two very different Democratic figures against each other. The contest has turned into an acrimonious showdown, laced with accusations of racism and anti-Muslim sentiment, but it is the political differences between the two leading contenders that could have major implications for how the Democratic party performs in next year's congressional races.

The Rising Progressive

On the left side is Zohran Mamdani, the 34-year-old progressive candidate whose meteoric rise and people-powered movement has brought global notice. Representing the old guard is the former governor, the ex- Democratic New York governor now running as an independent – and benefiting from the backing of ultra-rich donors and big business.

With days to go, it is Mamdani, the one-time underdog who beat his opponent in the Democratic primary who is solidly positioned as the frontrunner. Mamdani, who has campaigned on a platform of economic justice and promised to halt rent increases for about 2 million New Yorkers, has outpaced his rival by significant margins 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 stepped down as governor in 2021 amid allegations of sexual harassment, has stated clearly he will battle to the finish, and not necessarily in an above-the-belt fashion. He has criticized his opponent's goals as unrealistic, and in recent days laughed as a radio host made Islamophobic remarks about Mamdani, who is a Muslim. Two weeks ago, the independent was widely condemned as bigoted after posting an AI-generated ad that included a slew of racial caricatures and showed Mamdani freeing a group of criminals.

It's been a particularly ugly conclusion to an election that could be key to the direction that the Democratic party, struggling in its reaction to the former president's authoritarian grabs, adopts in the near future.

Broader Consequences

If Mamdani secures a clear victory, the party establishment who have declined to support his bid will be compelled to address a message that has resonated with Americans' frustration at economic disparity, soaring price rises and the establishment. It would be hard for the Senate leader and Hakeem Jeffries not to embrace at least a portion of the candidate's progressive proposals about affordability, given the newcomer has generated an enthusiasm within the Democratic ranks arguably not seen since the Vermont senator campaigned for the White House in 2016.

However, should the former governor, who had been predicted to sail to victory in the June primary, complete a surprising riches-to-rags-to-riches victory, it could reinforce the party's existing approach of cautious, lackluster opposition – a tactic that has angered the party base. A NYC rejection of Mamdani's optimistic platform could persuade Schumer and Jeffries that the wisest course is to remain in the political center – even as surveys show the current iteration of the party is widely disliked nationwide.

Voter Enthusiasm

Residents of the city appear to favor the progressive agenda. Polls show that his backers are much more excited about their candidate than Cuomo backers, something that has been evident throughout the campaign. Mamdani's snappy videos on social media, his hopeful outlook for the city and his readiness to actually venture out and connect with voters in the city has attracted an force of over fifty thousand volunteers, many of them youth or first-time voters.

Personal Attacks

However, the former governor, in his late sixties, isn't giving up. And with the risks against him, the former governor has turned to negative campaigning in recent weeks.

After spending months launching various attacks at Mamdani to see what might stick, the independent has concentrated on attacking Mamdani personally. He has called Mamdani, who was of Ugandan origin to South Asian heritage, an “extremist”, and appeared on conservative media for an discussion with a rightwing host, where Cuomo asserted the city “will not survive” Mamdani as mayor. It reached a nadir last week, when the former governor laughed along and said “that’s another problem” after a radio host said Mamdani would “cheer” another terrorist attack.

Political Landscape

The line of attack mirrors much of what Trump, who has sent the national guard to the capital and threatened to do the same to New York, has said about the progressive, and maybe that shouldn’t come as a surprise. A group of wealthy residents, including some who donated to Trump in the last presidential race, have pumped millions into trying to elect the independent elected, as other influential figures have urged Curtis Sliwa to withdraw from the contest.

Political Histories

As far as the Cuomo camp, and his wealthy backers, are concerned, it should never have come to this point. When the assemblyman, one of one hundred fifty state legislators, started his campaign for mayor in last year, not many had known him, and in reality, barely anyone even noticed.

The former governor, by contrast, eased his way into the race in this year and became the immediate frontrunner. He was the political heavyweight who seemingly held all the advantages. The quintessential political insider, he had wed a Kennedy and served in Bill Clinton’s administration. He became New York governor in 2011, 17 years after his father, Mario Cuomo, left office from the identical role.

Mamdani, who was elected to the state legislature in 2020, does not have the same political heritage. But his commitment to providing free buses 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 promise to hire more police officers.

Campaign Controversies

Still, the candidate 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 police is on your throat, it’s been influenced by the IDF,” the candidate said in the clip, filmed at a DSA convention in recent years. Mamdani, a longtime critic of the Israeli government who has said the nation is engaging in atrocities in Gaza, indicated he was questioning joint training exercises between the NYPD 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 increasing rhetoric.

The progressive addressed Cuomo’s 9/11 remarks in an heartfelt recording. In it, the candidate remembered how, when he first campaigned for the legislature, a Muslim uncle suggested to him that he did not have to tell people about his religion. It was a lesson, he said, that many local Muslims had been told “again and again”: “That safety could only be found in the margins of our community. That it is in those hidden spaces alone where followers of Islam could embrace their true selves, and that if we were to step out from those shadows, then it is in those shadows that we must set aside our faith.”

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