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New Yorkers will find out who will be their next mayor this Tuesday, in a race that will decide who governs and protects the country's most populous metropolis at a time when Donald Trump has vowed to send military troops to the city.

Against that backdrop, New York has experienced a race for mayor that has pitted two distinctly opposing Democratic figures against each other. The election has become an acrimonious face-off, laced with accusations of racism and Islamophobia, but it is the political differences between the two main candidates that could have significant consequences for how the Democratic party performs in next year's congressional races.

The Rising Progressive

On the left side is the democratic socialist, the young democratic socialist whose meteoric rise and grassroots campaign has attracted global notice. On the establishment side is Andrew Cuomo, the former Democratic New York governor now running as an independent – and benefiting from the support 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 frontrunner. Mamdani, who has campaigned on a platform of economic justice and pledged to halt rent increases for about two million New Yorkers, has outpaced Cuomo by double-digits in every poll taken in the fall, and it is very much the progressive's election to throw away.

The Controversial Campaign

Yet, Cuomo, who resigned as governor in recent years amid accusations of misconduct, has stated clearly he will battle to the end, and not necessarily in an above-the-belt fashion. He has trashed Mamdani's objectives as unrealistic, and in the final stretch laughed as a broadcaster made Islamophobic remarks about Mamdani, who is a Muslim. Recently, the independent was strongly criticized as bigoted after sharing an AI-generated ad that included a series of racial caricatures and showed Mamdani freeing a convicts.

It's been a particularly ugly conclusion to an race that could be critical to the path that the Democratic party, struggling in its response to Trump's authoritarian grabs, adopts in the coming years.

Broader Consequences

Should Mamdani wins convincingly, the party establishment who have declined to support his campaign will be forced to reckon with a message that has resonated with voters' frustration at inequality, inflation and the establishment. It would be hard for Chuck Schumer and Hakeem Jeffries not to adopt at least a portion of the candidate's ambitious ideas about economic justice, given the newcomer has created an excitement within the Democratic ranks arguably not witnessed since the Vermont senator campaigned for the White House eight years ago.

However, should Cuomo, who had been expected to win easily in the June primary, achieve a remarkable riches-to-rags-to-riches win, it could reinforce the party's current model of considered, uninspiring opposition – a tactic that has infuriated the party base. A New York defeat of the progressive's progressive, positive message could convince party leaders that the wisest course is to remain in the political center – even as surveys show the current iteration of the party is widely disliked nationwide.

Campaign Energy

Residents of New York seem to prefer the progressive agenda. Polls show that his backers are much more excited about their choice than Cuomo backers, something that has been evident throughout the campaign. The candidate's snappy videos on digital platforms, his optimistic vision for New York and his readiness to actually venture out and connect with voters in the metropolis has drawn an force of more than 50,000 volunteers, many of them youth or new participants.

Personal Attacks

However, Cuomo, in his late sixties, isn't giving up. And with the risks stacked against him, the ex-leader has resorted to ugly messaging in the final days.

After spending months launching various attacks at his opponent to see what might resonate, the independent has concentrated on targeting the candidate directly. He has called Mamdani, who was of Ugandan origin to South Asian heritage, an "radical", and appeared on Fox Business for an discussion with a rightwing host, where the candidate claimed the city “will not survive” Mamdani as mayor. It hit bottom recently, when the former governor chuckled and said “that’s another problem” after a radio host said the candidate would “cheer” another terrorist incident.

Political Landscape

This strategy echoes much of what Trump, who has deployed the military reserves to the capital and warned to take similar action to New York, has said about Mamdani, and maybe that shouldn’t come as a surprise. A set of billionaire New Yorkers, including some who contributed to the Republican in the 2024 election, have pumped millions into trying to elect the independent elected, as other influential figures have urged the Republican candidate to drop out from the contest.

Candidate Backgrounds

For the his team, 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, launched his campaign for mayor in last year, not many had heard of him, and in truth, barely anyone even paid attention.

The former governor, by contrast, entered smoothly into the contest in March 2025 and became the immediate frontrunner. He was the political heavyweight who seemingly held all the advantages. The classic political insider, he had wed a political dynasty member and served in a Democratic presidency. He assumed office as New York governor in 2011, seventeen years after his father, Mario Cuomo, left office from the same position.

The progressive, who was voted in to the New York state assembly in recently, does not have the same political heritage. But his dedication to providing no-cost transit and affordable child services – along with the rent control promise – offer a brighter outlook of the city's direction than Cuomo’s pessimistic predictions about “mayhem” and rising criminal activity, and his promise to hire more police officers.

Recent Challenges

Nevertheless, the candidate has encountered some challenges in the final phase, after footage surfaced appearing to show him suggesting the NYPD and the Israel Defense Forces were connected.

“We have to make clear that when the pressure of the police is on your throat, it’s been influenced by the Israeli military,” Mamdani said in the clip, recorded at a DSA convention in recent years. The progressive, a vocal opponent of Israel who has said the country is committing genocide in Gaza, indicated he was questioning cooperative programs between the NYPD and Israeli forces.

Emotional Response

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

Mamdani addressed the independent's 9/11 remarks in an emotional video. In it, Mamdani remembered how, when he first ran for the legislature, a family member suggested to him that he did not have to tell people about his religion. It was a realization, he said, that many Muslim New Yorkers had been taught “again and again”: “That safety could only be found in the shadows of our city. That it is in those hidden spaces alone where Muslims could express their true selves, and that if we were to emerge from those seclusion, then it is in those shadows that we must set aside our faith.”

Speaking to the behavior of his opponents, who has claimed Mamd