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Residents of the Big Apple will learn who will be their next mayor this election day, in a contest that will determine who runs and protects the country's largest city at a moment when Donald Trump has vowed to deploy military troops to the city.

Against that backdrop, New York has witnessed a mayoral election that has pitted two very different Democratic figures against one another. The contest has turned into an acrimonious showdown, marked by accusations of racism and Islamophobia, but it is the ideological divide between the two leading candidates 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 democratic socialist whose meteoric rise and grassroots campaign has brought international attention. Representing the old guard is the former governor, the ex- New York governor now campaigning independently – and benefiting from the support of wealthy contributors and big business.

With days to go, it is Mamdani, the former longshot who defeated Cuomo in the Democratic primary who is firmly installed as the frontrunner. Mamdani, who has campaigned on a platform of affordability and promised to freeze rent for about two million city residents, has outpaced Cuomo by significant margins in every poll taken in the fall, and it is very much the progressive's race to throw away.

The Controversial Campaign

However, the former governor, who resigned as the state's leader in recent years amid allegations of misconduct, has made it clear he will fight to the finish, and not necessarily in an fair manner. He has criticized his opponent's goals as unrealistic, and in recent days chuckled along as a broadcaster made Islamophobic remarks about the candidate, who is Muslim. Two weeks ago, the independent was widely condemned as racist after sharing an AI-generated ad that included a series of racist stereotypes and showed his opponent freeing a convicts.

This represents a rather grubby end to an race that could be critical to the direction that the party, struggling in its reaction to the former president's authoritarian grabs, takes in the coming years.

National Implications

Should Mamdani secures a clear victory, the party establishment who have refused to endorse his bid will be forced to reckon with a message that has resonated with voters' frustration at economic disparity, soaring price rises and the political elite. It would be hard for Chuck Schumer and the House leader not to adopt at least some of Mamdani's ambitious ideas about economic justice, given the fresh face has created an excitement within the Democratic ranks perhaps not witnessed since the Vermont senator ran for president eight years ago.

Conversely, if the former governor, who had been expected to sail to victory in the June primary, achieve a surprising riches-to-rags-to-riches victory, it could cement national Democrats' current model of cautious, uninspiring resistance – a strategy that has infuriated grassroots members. A New York defeat of Mamdani's optimistic platform could convince party leaders that the wisest course is to remain in the center – even as polls show the present version of the party is deeply unpopular across the country.

Campaign Energy

Residents of New York seem to prefer the progressive agenda. Surveys show that his backers are far more enthusiastic about their choice than Cuomo backers, something that has been evident throughout the campaign. The candidate's snappy videos on digital platforms, his hopeful outlook for the city and his readiness to actually get out and meet people in the metropolis has attracted an army of more than 50,000 supporters, many of them young or new participants.

Personal Attacks

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

After spending months throwing basically everything at his opponent to see what might resonate, the independent has concentrated on targeting Mamdani directly. He has called Mamdani, who was of Ugandan origin to Indian parents, an "radical", and appeared on conservative media for an discussion with Maria Bartiromo, where the candidate claimed New York “will not survive” Mamdani as city leader. It reached a nadir last week, when the former governor chuckled and said “that’s another problem” after a radio host said Mamdani would “cheer” another 9/11-style attack.

Political Landscape

The line of attack echoes much of what the former president, who has deployed the military reserves to the capital and warned to do the same to New York, has said about Mamdani, and maybe that is expected. A group of wealthy residents, including some who donated to Trump in the last presidential race, have pumped millions into trying to get Cuomo elected, as other influential figures have pressured Curtis Sliwa to drop out from the race.

Candidate Backgrounds

As far as the his team, and his wealthy backers, are concerned, it should not have reached to this point. When Mamdani, one of 150 New York state assembly members, launched his mayoral bid in October 2024, not many had known him, and in truth, barely anyone even paid attention.

Cuomo, by contrast, entered smoothly into the race in this year and became the instant favorite. He was the big beast who seemingly held every edge. The quintessential establishment figure, he had married a Kennedy and worked in a Democratic presidency. He became New York governor in 2011, 17 years after his father, the former governor, stepped down 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 no-cost transit and affordable child services – along with the freeze-the-rent pledge – present a brighter outlook of the city's direction than his opponent's pessimistic predictions about “mayhem” and unfettered crime, and his vow to hire more police officers.

Recent Challenges

Still, Mamdani has encountered difficulties in recent days, after footage emerged suggesting him implying the NYPD and the IDF were connected.

“We have to make clear that when the pressure of the NYPD is on your throat, it’s been laced by the Israeli military,” Mamdani said in the recording, filmed at a Democratic Socialists of America convention in 2023. Mamdani, a longtime critic of the Israeli government who has said the country is committing genocide in the Palestinian territory, suggested he was questioning cooperative programs between the NYPD and IDF.

Emotional Response

With the election nearing, the candidate appears to have won empathy and backing, however, for his reaction to his opponent's increasing rhetoric.

Mamdani addressed the independent's 9/11 remarks in an heartfelt recording. In it, Mamdani remembered how, when he first ran for state assembly, a family member advised 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 hidden spaces alone where followers of Islam could express their full identities, and that if we were to step out from those seclusion, then it is in those silence that we must set aside our faith.”

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