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New Yorkers will find out who will be their next mayor this election day, in a race that will determine who governs and defends the country's most populous metropolis at a time when Donald Trump has threatened to deploy armed forces to the city.

In this context, New York has experienced a mayoral election that has pitted two very different Democrats against each other. The election has turned into an acrimonious showdown, laced with accusations of racial bias and anti-Muslim sentiment, but it is the ideological divide between the two main contenders that could have significant consequences for how the party fares in next year's midterm elections.

The Progressive Challenger

On the left side is the democratic socialist, the 34-year-old progressive candidate whose rapid ascent and grassroots campaign has attracted international attention. On the establishment side is the former governor, the former Democratic New York governor now campaigning independently – and enjoying the backing of wealthy contributors and big business.

With days to go, it is the progressive, the former longshot who beat Cuomo in the party primary who is firmly installed as the leading candidate. The candidate, who has run on a platform of economic justice and pledged to halt rent increases for about two million New Yorkers, has led Cuomo by significant margins across all surveys taken in October, and it is very much the younger man's race to throw away.

The Controversial Campaign

However, the former governor, who resigned as governor in recent years amid allegations of misconduct, has stated clearly he will fight to the finish, and not necessarily in an fair fashion. He has trashed Mamdani's goals as unrealistic, and in recent days laughed 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 artificial intelligence video that featured a series of racial caricatures and showed Mamdani freeing a convicts.

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

National Implications

Should Mamdani secures a clear victory, the party establishment who have declined to support his bid will be forced to reckon with a platform that has appealed to voters' anger at economic disparity, soaring price rises and the establishment. It would be hard for Chuck Schumer and Hakeem Jeffries not to adopt at least a portion of Mamdani's progressive proposals about affordability, given the newcomer has created an enthusiasm within the Democratic ranks arguably not seen since Bernie Sanders campaigned for the White House in 2016.

Conversely, should Cuomo, who had been expected 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 opposition – a strategy that has infuriated grassroots members. A NYC defeat of the progressive's optimistic platform could convince party leaders that the wisest course is to remain in the political center – even as surveys show the present version of the Democratic party is widely disliked across the country.

Voter Enthusiasm

Residents of the city appear to favor the progressive agenda. Surveys show that his backers are far more enthusiastic about their choice than his opponent's supporters, something that has been apparent throughout the campaign. The candidate's engaging content on social media, his optimistic vision for New York and his willingness to actually get out and meet people in the city has attracted an army of more than 50,000 volunteers, many of them young or first-time voters.

Personal Attacks

However, Cuomo, 67, continues to fight. And with the risks against him, the former governor has resorted to negative campaigning in the final days.

After spending months throwing basically everything at his opponent to see what might stick, Cuomo has concentrated on attacking the candidate directly. He has called his rival, who was born in Uganda to Indian parents, an "radical", and appeared on Fox Business for an discussion with Maria Bartiromo, where the candidate claimed 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 broadcaster said Mamdani would “cheer” another 9/11-style attack.

Political Landscape

The line of attack mirrors much of what Trump, who has deployed the national guard to Washington DC and warned to do the same to NYC, has said about Mamdani, and perhaps that is expected. A group of wealthy residents, including some who donated to the Republican in the last presidential race, have pumped millions into trying to get Cuomo into office, as other influential figures have pressured Curtis Sliwa to drop out from the contest.

Candidate Backgrounds

For the Cuomo camp, and his wealthy backers, are worried, it should not have reached to this point. When the assemblyman, one of one hundred fifty New York state assembly members, started his mayoral bid in last year, few had heard of him, and in reality, barely anyone even noticed.

Cuomo, by comparison, entered smoothly into the race in March 2025 and became the immediate frontrunner. He was the big beast who apparently held every edge. The classic political insider, he had wed a Kennedy and served in Bill Clinton’s administration. He assumed office as the state's leader in over a decade ago, seventeen years after his father, the former governor, stepped down 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 dedication to providing free buses and affordable child services – along with the rent control promise – present 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.

Recent Challenges

Still, Mamdani has faced some challenges in the final phase, after video emerged suggesting him suggesting the New York police department and the Israel Defense Forces were connected.

“We have to make clear that when the boot of the NYPD is on your neck, it’s been laced by the Israeli military,” Mamdani said in the recording, filmed at a DSA gathering in recent years. Mamdani, a vocal opponent of Israel who has said the country is committing genocide in the Palestinian territory, suggested he was criticizing cooperative programs between the city police and IDF.

Emotional Response

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

Mamdani responded to Cuomo’s 9/11 remarks in an heartfelt recording. In it, Mamdani remembered how, when he first campaigned for state assembly, a Muslim uncle advised to him that he did not have to tell people about his religion. It was a realization, Mamdani said, that many local Muslims had been taught “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 full identities, 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 actions of Cuomo and Sliwa, who has alleged Mamd