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New Yorkers will find out the identity of their new city leader this election day, in a race that will determine who runs and protects the nation's largest city at a time when Donald Trump has vowed to send military troops to the urban center.

Against that backdrop, New York has experienced a race for mayor that has matched two very different Democrats against one another. The contest has turned into an acrimonious face-off, laced with accusations of racial bias and Islamophobia, but it is the ideological divide between the two main contenders that could have significant consequences for how the Democratic party fares in next year's congressional races.

The Rising Progressive

On the left side is Zohran Mamdani, the 34-year-old democratic socialist whose rapid ascent and people-powered movement has attracted international attention. Representing the old guard is Andrew Cuomo, the former New York governor now running as an independent – and benefiting from the support of wealthy contributors and corporations.

With days to go, it is the progressive, the former longshot who defeated Cuomo in the party primary who is solidly positioned as the leading candidate. Mamdani, who has run on a agenda of affordability and promised to freeze rent for about two million New Yorkers, has outpaced his rival by significant margins across all surveys conducted in the fall, and it is very much the younger man's race to lose.

A Bitter Contest

However, the former governor, who stepped down as governor in recent years amid accusations of misconduct, has stated clearly he will fight to the end, and not necessarily in an fair manner. He has criticized Mamdani's objectives as unachievable, and in the final stretch chuckled along as a broadcaster made anti-Muslim comments about the candidate, who is Muslim. Recently, Cuomo was strongly criticized as bigoted after posting an artificial intelligence video that included a slew of racist stereotypes and showed his opponent releasing a convicts.

It's been a particularly ugly end to an race that could be key to the direction that the party, floundering in its response to the former president's authoritarian grabs, adopts in the near future.

Broader Consequences

Should the progressive secures a clear victory, the establishment party leaders who have declined to support his bid will be forced to reckon with a platform that has appealed to Americans' frustration at economic disparity, soaring price rises and the establishment. It would be difficult for the Senate leader and the House leader not to embrace at least a portion of Mamdani's ambitious ideas about affordability, given the newcomer has created an enthusiasm within the party arguably not seen since Bernie Sanders ran for president eight years ago.

However, should the former governor, who had been predicted to sail to victory in the Democratic primary, achieve a remarkable comeback win, it could reinforce the party's current model of cautious, uninspiring opposition – a strategy that has infuriated the party base. A New York defeat of the progressive's progressive, positive message could persuade party leaders that the best plan is to stick to the center – even as polls show the current iteration of the Democratic party is deeply unpopular across the country.

Campaign Energy

Residents of the city seem to prefer the progressive agenda. Surveys show that Mamdani supporters are far more enthusiastic about their candidate than Cuomo backers, something that has been evident throughout the campaign. Mamdani's engaging content on digital platforms, his optimistic vision for the city and his readiness to actually venture out and meet people in the city has attracted an army of over fifty thousand volunteers, many of them young or first-time voters.

Negative Tactics

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

Following extensive launching various attacks at Mamdani to see what might resonate, Cuomo has concentrated on attacking Mamdani personally. He has called Mamdani, who was of Ugandan origin to South Asian heritage, an “extremist”, and popped up on Fox Business for an discussion with a rightwing host, where Cuomo asserted New York “will not survive” his opponent as mayor. It hit bottom last week, when Cuomo chuckled and said “that’s another problem” after a radio host said the candidate would “cheer” another 9/11-style incident.

Political Landscape

This strategy mirrors much of what Trump, who has sent the national guard to Washington DC and warned to do the same to NYC, has said about Mamdani, and maybe that is expected. A set of wealthy residents, including some who donated to the Republican in the 2024 election, have pumped millions into trying to elect the independent into office, as other powerful voices have urged Curtis Sliwa to withdraw from the contest.

Candidate Backgrounds

As far as the Cuomo camp, and his billionaire supporters, are concerned, it should never have come to this. When Mamdani, one of one hundred fifty New York state assembly members, started his mayoral bid in last year, not many had heard of him, and in reality, few even paid attention.

Cuomo, by comparison, eased his way into the race in this year and became the immediate frontrunner. He was the big beast who apparently held all the advantages. The quintessential establishment figure, he had married a political dynasty member and served in a Democratic presidency. He became the state's leader in 2011, seventeen years after his father, Mario Cuomo, left office from the identical role.

Mamdani, who was voted in to the New York state assembly 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 – offer a more positive vision of the future than Cuomo’s dire warnings about “mayhem” and rising criminal activity, and his vow to increase police presence.

Campaign Controversies

Still, Mamdani has faced difficulties in the final phase, after video emerged suggesting him suggesting the NYPD and the IDF were connected.

“We have to make clear that when the boot of the police is on your throat, it’s been influenced by the IDF,” the candidate said in the clip, recorded at a DSA gathering in recent years. The progressive, a longtime critic of Israel who has said the country is engaging in atrocities in Gaza, suggested he was criticizing joint training exercises between the city police and Israeli forces.

Powerful Moment

As the race closes, the candidate appears to have won empathy and backing, however, for his reaction to Cuomo’s escalating attacks.

Mamdani addressed Cuomo’s 9/11 remarks in an heartfelt recording. In it, Mamdani remembered how, when he first ran for state assembly, a Muslim uncle suggested to him that he did not have to disclose about his religion. It was a realization, Mamdani said, that many local Muslims had been told “again and again”: “That safety could only be found in the margins of our city. That it is in those shadows alone where Muslims could embrace their full identities, and that if we were to emerge from those shadows, then it is in those shadows that we must leave our faith.”

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