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New Yorkers will learn who will be their next mayor this election day, in a race that will determine who governs and protects the country's most populous metropolis at a time when the former president has threatened to deploy military troops to the city.

Against that backdrop, New York has experienced a mayoral election that has pitted two distinctly opposing Democrats against each other. The contest has turned into an acrimonious face-off, marked by accusations of racial bias and Islamophobia, but it is the political differences between the two leading candidates that could have major implications for how the party performs in next year's congressional races.

The Progressive Challenger

On the left side is the democratic socialist, the young progressive candidate whose rapid ascent and grassroots campaign has attracted global notice. Representing the old guard is the former governor, the ex- New York governor now running as an independent – and enjoying the backing of ultra-rich donors and big business.

As the election approaches, it is Mamdani, the one-time underdog who defeated Cuomo in the Democratic primary who is firmly installed as the leading candidate. The candidate, who has run on a platform of affordability and pledged to halt rent increases for about 2 million New Yorkers, has outpaced his rival by significant margins in every poll conducted in October, and it is very much the younger man's election to lose.

A Bitter Contest

However, Cuomo, who resigned as the state's leader in recent years amid accusations of sexual harassment, has made it clear he will fight to the finish, and not necessarily in an fair fashion. He has criticized Mamdani's objectives as unachievable, and in the final stretch laughed as a radio host made Islamophobic remarks about the candidate, who is a Muslim. Recently, the independent was strongly criticized as racist after sharing an AI-generated ad that included a series of racist stereotypes and showed his opponent freeing a group of criminals.

This represents a particularly ugly end to an election that could be key to the path that the party, struggling in its response to the former president's power moves, adopts in the coming years.

Broader Consequences

Should the progressive wins convincingly, the party establishment who have refused to endorse his campaign will be forced to reckon with a platform that has resonated with voters' frustration at economic disparity, soaring price rises and the political elite. It would be hard for the Senate leader and Hakeem Jeffries not to adopt at least some of the candidate's progressive proposals about affordability, given the newcomer has generated an excitement within the Democratic ranks arguably not witnessed since the Vermont senator campaigned for the White House in 2016.

Conversely, if Cuomo, who had been expected to sail to victory in the Democratic primary, achieve a remarkable riches-to-rags-to-riches win, it could reinforce the party's existing approach of cautious, uninspiring opposition – a tactic that has angered the party base. A New York defeat of the progressive's optimistic platform could convince Schumer and Jeffries that the best plan is to stick to the center – even as polls show the present version of the party is widely disliked nationwide.

Campaign Energy

Residents of the city appear to favor the progressive agenda. Surveys show that his backers are much more excited about their choice than his opponent's supporters, something that has been apparent during the race. The candidate's snappy videos on social media, his optimistic vision for the city and his willingness to actually venture out and connect with voters in the city has attracted an army of more than 50,000 supporters, many of them youth or first-time voters.

Personal Attacks

Yet, the former governor, in his late sixties, isn't giving up. And with the stakes against him, the ex-leader has resorted to negative campaigning in recent weeks.

After spending months throwing basically everything at Mamdani to see what might resonate, Cuomo has narrowed his focus on targeting Mamdani personally. He has called Mamdani, who was of Ugandan origin to Indian parents, an "radical", and popped up on conservative media for an interview with Maria Bartiromo, where the candidate claimed the city “will not survive” Mamdani as mayor. It hit bottom last week, when Cuomo laughed along and said “that’s another problem” after a broadcaster said the candidate would “cheer” another terrorist attack.

Political Landscape

The line of attack echoes much of what Trump, who has sent the national guard to the capital and warned to do the same to NYC, has said about the progressive, and maybe that is expected. A set of billionaire New Yorkers, including some who donated to Trump in the 2024 election, have invested heavily into trying to elect the independent into office, as other powerful voices have pressured the Republican candidate to withdraw from the race.

Political Histories

As far as the Cuomo camp, and his wealthy backers, are worried, it should never have come to this point. When the assemblyman, one of one hundred fifty state legislators, launched his mayoral bid in last year, few had known him, and in truth, barely anyone even paid attention.

The former governor, by comparison, eased his way into the race in this year and became the instant favorite. He was the political heavyweight who apparently held every edge. The classic establishment figure, he had wed a Kennedy and served in Bill Clinton’s administration. He became the state's leader in over a decade ago, seventeen years after his parent, Mario Cuomo, stepped down from the same position.

The progressive, who was voted in to the state legislature in recently, does not have the same political heritage. But his dedication to providing free buses and affordable child services – along with the freeze-the-rent pledge – present a more positive vision of the city's direction than Cuomo’s dire warnings about “mayhem” and unfettered crime, and his promise to increase police presence.

Recent Challenges

Nevertheless, the candidate has faced some challenges in the final phase, after video surfaced suggesting him implying the NYPD and the Israel Defense Forces were connected.

“We have to make clear that when the pressure 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 2023. The progressive, a vocal opponent of Israel who has said the nation is engaging in atrocities in the Palestinian territory, suggested he was criticizing joint training exercises between the city police and IDF.

Emotional Response

With the election nearing, Mamdani seems to have gained sympathy and support, however, for his reaction to Cuomo’s escalating attacks.

The progressive responded to the independent's 9/11 remarks in an emotional video. In it, Mamdani recalled how, when he first ran for the legislature, a Muslim uncle advised to him that he did not have to disclose about his religion. It was a realization, he said, that many local Muslims had been told “again and again”: “That security could only be found in the shadows 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 beliefs.”

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