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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 defends the country's largest city at a moment when the former president has vowed to send military troops to the urban center.

Against that backdrop, New York has witnessed a race for mayor that has matched two distinctly opposing Democrats against each other. The election has become an increasingly bitter showdown, marked by alleged racial bias and Islamophobia, but it is the political differences between the two leading candidates that could have significant consequences for how the Democratic party fares 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 brought international attention. On the establishment side is the former governor, the ex- Democratic New York governor now campaigning independently – and enjoying the backing of ultra-rich donors and corporations.

With days to go, it is the progressive, the one-time underdog who beat Cuomo in the Democratic primary who is firmly installed as the frontrunner. Mamdani, who has campaigned on a agenda of affordability and promised to halt rent increases for about 2 million New Yorkers, has led his rival by significant margins in every poll taken in the fall, and it is very much the progressive's race to lose.

A Bitter Contest

Yet, Cuomo, who resigned as the state's leader in 2021 amid allegations of misconduct, has made it clear he will battle to the end, and not necessarily in an fair fashion. He has criticized his opponent's goals as unrealistic, and in recent days laughed as a radio host made anti-Muslim comments about the candidate, who is Muslim. Recently, Cuomo was widely condemned as racist after posting an AI-generated ad that featured a slew of racial caricatures and showed his opponent releasing a convicts.

This represents a particularly ugly conclusion to an race that could be critical to the direction that the party, floundering in its reaction to the former president's power moves, takes in the near future.

Broader Consequences

Should Mamdani secures a clear victory, the party establishment who have declined to support his bid will be forced to reckon with a message that has resonated with Americans' frustration at economic disparity, inflation and the establishment. It would be hard for Chuck Schumer and Hakeem Jeffries not to embrace at least a portion of Mamdani's progressive proposals about economic justice, given the fresh face has created an enthusiasm within the Democratic ranks arguably not witnessed since Bernie Sanders ran for president in 2016.

Conversely, if the former governor, who had been predicted to win easily in the June primary, achieve a remarkable riches-to-rags-to-riches win, it could cement the party's existing approach of cautious, uninspiring resistance – a strategy that has infuriated the party base. A New York defeat of the progressive's progressive, positive message could persuade Schumer and Jeffries that the wisest course is to remain in the center – even as polls show the current iteration of the party is widely disliked across the country.

Voter Enthusiasm

Voters in the city seem to prefer the Mamdani vision. Polls show that Mamdani supporters are much more excited about their candidate than his opponent's supporters, something that has been evident throughout the campaign. Mamdani's snappy videos on digital platforms, his hopeful outlook for New York and his readiness to actually get out and meet people in the metropolis has attracted an army of more than 50,000 volunteers, 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 stacked against him, the ex-leader has turned to negative campaigning in the final days.

Following extensive throwing basically everything at Mamdani to see what might resonate, the independent has narrowed his focus on attacking Mamdani directly. He has labelled his rival, who was of Ugandan origin to South Asian heritage, an "radical", and appeared on Fox Business for an interview with Maria Bartiromo, where the candidate claimed the city “will not survive” Mamdani as mayor. It reached a nadir recently, when Cuomo laughed along and said “that’s another problem” after a broadcaster said Mamdani would “cheer” another 9/11-style incident.

Political Landscape

The line of attack echoes much of what Trump, who has deployed the military reserves to Washington DC and warned to do the same to New York, has said about Mamdani, and maybe that is expected. A group of billionaire New Yorkers, including some who contributed to Trump in the 2024 election, have invested heavily into trying to elect Cuomo into office, as other influential figures have pressured Curtis Sliwa to drop out from the contest.

Political Histories

As far as the his team, and his billionaire supporters, are concerned, it should never have come to this point. When Mamdani, one of 150 state legislators, launched his mayoral bid in October 2024, not many had known him, and in reality, 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 big beast who apparently held all the advantages. The quintessential establishment figure, he had wed a political dynasty member and served in a Democratic presidency. He became the state's leader in 2011, 17 years after his parent, the former governor, left office from the identical role.

The progressive, who was voted in 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 rent control promise – present a brighter outlook of the future than his opponent's dire warnings about “mayhem” and rising criminal activity, and his vow to increase police presence.

Campaign Controversies

Still, the candidate has faced difficulties in the final phase, after footage surfaced appearing to show him implying the NYPD 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 influenced by the Israeli military,” Mamdani said in the recording, filmed at a DSA gathering in 2023. The progressive, a vocal opponent of the Israeli government who has said the country is committing genocide in the Palestinian territory, suggested he was criticizing cooperative programs between the city police and IDF.

Powerful Moment

With the election nearing, the candidate seems to have gained empathy and backing, however, for his reaction to Cuomo’s increasing rhetoric.

The progressive addressed the independent's 9/11 remarks in an emotional video. In it, Mamdani remembered how, when he first campaigned for the legislature, a family member suggested 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 security could only be found in the shadows of our city. That it is in those shadows alone where followers of Islam could embrace their full identities, and that if we were to step out from those seclusion, 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