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Residents of the Big Apple will find out the identity of their next mayor this election day, in a race that will decide who runs and defends the nation's most populous metropolis at a moment when the former president has vowed to send armed forces to the city.

Against that backdrop, New York has witnessed a mayoral election that has pitted two very different Democrats against one another. The election has turned into an acrimonious face-off, marked by alleged racism and anti-Muslim sentiment, but it is the ideological divide between the two main candidates that could have major implications for how the party performs in next year's midterm elections.

The Rising Progressive

On the left side is Zohran Mamdani, the young progressive candidate whose rapid ascent and grassroots campaign has attracted international attention. Representing the old guard is the former governor, the former New York governor now campaigning independently – and benefiting from the backing of ultra-rich donors and big business.

With days to go, it is the progressive, the former longshot who defeated Cuomo in the party primary who is solidly positioned as the frontrunner. Mamdani, who has campaigned on a platform of affordability and pledged to freeze rent for about two million city residents, has outpaced Cuomo by double-digits across all surveys taken in October, and it is very much the progressive's race to lose.

A Bitter Contest

However, the former governor, who stepped down as governor in recent years amid allegations of misconduct, has stated clearly he will battle to the finish, and not necessarily in an fair fashion. He has criticized Mamdani's goals as unrealistic, and in the final stretch chuckled along as a broadcaster made anti-Muslim comments about the candidate, who is Muslim. Two weeks ago, Cuomo was widely condemned as racist after posting an AI-generated ad that featured a series of racist stereotypes and showed Mamdani freeing a group of criminals.

It's been a particularly ugly conclusion to an race that could be critical to the direction that the Democratic party, struggling in its response to Trump's authoritarian grabs, takes in the near future.

National Implications

If the progressive secures a clear victory, the establishment party leaders who have refused to endorse his bid will be compelled to address a platform that has resonated with Americans' anger at economic disparity, soaring price rises and the political elite. It would be hard for Chuck Schumer and Hakeem Jeffries not to adopt at least some of the candidate's ambitious ideas about affordability, given the fresh face has generated an excitement within the Democratic ranks perhaps not seen since the Vermont senator campaigned for the White House eight years ago.

However, should the former governor, who had been predicted to win easily in the June primary, complete a remarkable riches-to-rags-to-riches victory, it could reinforce national Democrats' current model of cautious, lackluster resistance – a strategy that has angered the party base. A NYC defeat of the progressive's progressive, positive message could persuade Schumer and Jeffries that the best plan is to remain in the political center – even as surveys show the present version of the Democratic party is widely disliked nationwide.

Voter Enthusiasm

Residents of New York seem to prefer the progressive agenda. Polls show that his backers are far more enthusiastic about their choice than Cuomo backers, something that has been apparent during the race. The candidate's snappy videos on social media, his optimistic vision for New York and his willingness to actually venture out and connect with voters in the metropolis has attracted an force of more than 50,000 volunteers, many of them youth or new participants.

Personal Attacks

However, the former governor, in his late sixties, continues to fight. And with the risks against him, the ex-leader has resorted to negative campaigning in recent weeks.

After spending months throwing basically everything at his opponent to see what might resonate, the independent has concentrated on attacking the candidate directly. He has labelled his rival, who was born in Uganda to Indian parents, an "radical", and popped up on Fox Business for an discussion with a rightwing host, where the candidate asserted New York “will not survive” Mamdani 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 terrorist incident.

Political Landscape

The line of attack mirrors much of what Trump, who has sent the military reserves to the capital 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 wealthy residents, including some who contributed to Trump in the last presidential race, have pumped millions into trying to elect Cuomo elected, as other powerful voices have urged Curtis Sliwa to drop out from the contest.

Political Histories

For the his team, and his wealthy backers, are worried, it should not have reached to this point. When the assemblyman, one of 150 New York state assembly members, started his mayoral bid in October 2024, not many had heard of him, and in truth, few even paid attention.

The former governor, by contrast, eased his way into the race in March 2025 and became the immediate frontrunner. He was the big beast who apparently held all the advantages. The quintessential political insider, he had married a Kennedy and served in Bill Clinton’s administration. He became the state's leader in 2011, seventeen years after his father, Mario Cuomo, left office from the same position.

The progressive, who was elected to the New York state assembly in recently, does not have the same political heritage. But his commitment to providing no-cost transit and affordable child services – along with the freeze-the-rent pledge – offer a more positive vision of the future than his opponent's dire warnings about “mayhem” and rising criminal activity, and his vow to increase police presence.

Campaign Controversies

Nevertheless, the candidate has encountered some challenges in the final phase, after footage emerged suggesting him suggesting the New York police department and the IDF were intertwined.

“We have to make clear that when the pressure of the NYPD is on your throat, it’s been laced by the IDF,” Mamdani said in the clip, recorded at a Democratic Socialists of America convention in recent years. Mamdani, a longtime critic of Israel who has said the country is committing genocide 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.

Mamdani addressed Cuomo’s 9/11 remarks in an emotional video. In it, the candidate remembered how, when he first ran for state assembly, a Muslim uncle advised to him that he did not have to tell people about his Muslim faith. It was a realization, he said, that many Muslim New Yorkers had been told “again and again”: “That safety could only be found in the margins of our community. That it is in those shadows alone where followers of Islam 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 faith.”

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