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New Yorkers will discover who will be their new city leader this election day, in a contest that will determine who runs and defends the nation's most populous metropolis at a time when Donald Trump has threatened to send armed forces to the city.

In this context, New York has experienced a race for mayor that has matched two very different Democrats against each other. The contest has become an increasingly bitter showdown, laced with accusations of racism and Islamophobia, but it is the ideological divide between the two leading contenders 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 people-powered movement has brought global notice. On the establishment side is Andrew Cuomo, the ex- New York governor now running as an independent – and benefiting from the backing of ultra-rich donors and big business.

With days to go, it is the progressive, the former longshot who beat Cuomo in the Democratic primary who is firmly installed as the leading candidate. The candidate, who has run on a agenda of affordability and promised to freeze rent for about two million New Yorkers, has led his rival by significant margins across all surveys conducted in the fall, and it is very much the younger man's election to throw away.

The Controversial Campaign

Yet, Cuomo, who stepped down as governor in 2021 amid accusations of misconduct, has stated clearly he will fight to the finish, and not necessarily in an above-the-belt manner. He has criticized Mamdani's objectives as unachievable, and in recent days chuckled along as a broadcaster 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 critical to the path that the Democratic party, struggling in its reaction to the former president's authoritarian grabs, takes in the near future.

National Implications

If Mamdani wins convincingly, the party establishment who have refused to endorse his bid will be forced to reckon with a platform that has resonated with voters' anger at economic disparity, inflation and the establishment. It would be hard for the Senate leader and the House leader not to embrace at least a portion of the candidate's ambitious ideas about affordability, given the newcomer has generated an excitement within the Democratic ranks perhaps not witnessed since Bernie Sanders campaigned for the White House eight years ago.

However, if the former governor, who had been predicted to sail to victory in the June primary, complete a remarkable riches-to-rags-to-riches win, it could reinforce national Democrats' current model of considered, uninspiring opposition – a tactic that has angered the party base. A New York defeat of Mamdani's optimistic platform could persuade party leaders that the best plan is to stick to the center – even as polls show the present version of the Democratic party is widely disliked nationwide.

Campaign Energy

Residents of New York seem to prefer the progressive agenda. Surveys show that Mamdani supporters are far more enthusiastic 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 the city and his readiness to actually venture out and meet people in the metropolis has attracted an force of more than 50,000 supporters, many of them young or new participants.

Negative Tactics

However, Cuomo, in his late sixties, isn't giving up. And with the risks stacked against him, the former governor has resorted to negative campaigning in the final days.

Following extensive launching various attacks at his opponent to see what might resonate, Cuomo has narrowed his focus on targeting the candidate directly. He has labelled Mamdani, who was born in Uganda to South Asian heritage, an "radical", and popped up on Fox Business for an discussion with a rightwing host, where Cuomo asserted New York “will not survive” Mamdani as mayor. It reached a nadir recently, when Cuomo chuckled and said “that’s another problem” after a broadcaster said Mamdani would “cheer” another terrorist incident.

Campaign Dynamics

This strategy echoes much of what Trump, who has sent the national guard to the capital and warned to do the same to New York, has said about the progressive, and perhaps that is expected. A set of wealthy residents, including some who contributed to the Republican in the last presidential race, have pumped millions into trying to get the independent elected, as other influential figures have pressured the Republican candidate to drop out from the race.

Candidate Backgrounds

For the his team, and his wealthy backers, are worried, it should not have reached to this point. When Mamdani, one of one hundred fifty state legislators, started his mayoral bid in October 2024, not many had known him, and in reality, few even noticed.

The former governor, by comparison, entered smoothly into the race in this year and became the instant favorite. He was the political heavyweight who seemingly held all the advantages. The classic political insider, he had married a political dynasty member and worked in a Democratic presidency. He became the state's leader in over a decade ago, 17 years after his parent, the former governor, left office from the identical role.

Mamdani, who was voted in to the state legislature in 2020, does not have the same political heritage. But his dedication to providing free buses and free childcare – along with the rent control promise – offer a more positive vision of the future than his opponent's pessimistic predictions about “mayhem” and unfettered crime, and his vow to hire more police officers.

Campaign Controversies

Nevertheless, the candidate has faced difficulties in the final phase, after video emerged appearing to show him suggesting the NYPD and the IDF were intertwined.

“We have to make clear that when the boot of the NYPD is on your neck, it’s been influenced by the IDF,” the candidate said in the recording, recorded at a Democratic Socialists of America gathering in recent years. The progressive, a longtime critic of the Israeli government who has said the country is engaging in atrocities in Gaza, suggested he was criticizing cooperative programs between the city police and IDF.

Emotional Response

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

The progressive responded to Cuomo’s terrorism comments in an emotional video. In it, Mamdani recalled how, when he first campaigned for state assembly, a family member suggested to him that he did not have to disclose 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 margins of our city. That it is in those shadows alone where followers of Islam could express their full identities, and that if we were to emerge from those seclusion, then it is in those silence that we must leave our faith.”

Addressing the actions of Cuomo and Sliwa, who has claimed Mamd