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Residents of the Big Apple will find out the identity of their next mayor this Tuesday, in a race that will decide who runs and protects the country's most populous metropolis at a moment when the former president has vowed to deploy armed forces to the city.

In this context, New York has witnessed a mayoral election that has pitted two very different Democratic figures against one another. The election has turned into an acrimonious showdown, marked by alleged racism and anti-Muslim sentiment, but it is the political differences between the two leading candidates that could have major implications for how the Democratic party fares in next year's congressional races.

The Rising Progressive

In the progressive corner is the democratic socialist, the 34-year-old progressive candidate whose meteoric rise and people-powered movement has attracted international attention. On the establishment side is Andrew Cuomo, the ex- New York governor now campaigning independently – and benefiting from the support of ultra-rich donors and big business.

With days to go, it is Mamdani, the former longshot who beat Cuomo in the party primary who is firmly installed as the frontrunner. The candidate, who has run on a platform of economic justice and promised to halt rent increases for about 2 million city residents, has outpaced Cuomo by significant margins across all surveys taken in the fall, and it is very much the progressive's election to lose.

A Bitter Contest

Yet, Cuomo, who resigned as the state's leader in recent years amid accusations of misconduct, has stated clearly he will fight to the finish, and not necessarily in an above-the-belt fashion. He has criticized Mamdani's objectives as unrealistic, and in recent days chuckled along as a radio host made Islamophobic remarks about the candidate, who is Muslim. Recently, Cuomo was widely condemned as racist after posting an artificial intelligence video that included a series of racial caricatures and showed Mamdani freeing a group of criminals.

It's been a rather grubby conclusion to an election that could be key to the direction that the party, struggling in its reaction to Trump's authoritarian grabs, adopts in the near future.

Broader Consequences

Should Mamdani wins convincingly, the party establishment who have refused to endorse his campaign will be compelled to address a platform that has resonated with Americans' anger at economic disparity, inflation and the political elite. It would be difficult for Chuck Schumer and the House leader not to adopt at least a portion of Mamdani's progressive proposals about economic justice, given the newcomer has generated an excitement within the Democratic ranks arguably not seen since the Vermont senator campaigned for the White House in 2016.

Conversely, should Cuomo, who had been predicted to sail to victory in the June primary, achieve a remarkable riches-to-rags-to-riches victory, it could reinforce the party's current model of considered, uninspiring opposition – a tactic that has angered the party base. A NYC rejection of the progressive's optimistic platform could persuade party leaders that the wisest course is to remain in the center – even as surveys show the present version of the party is deeply unpopular across the country.

Voter Enthusiasm

Residents of New York seem to prefer the Mamdani vision. Polls show that his backers are far more enthusiastic about their candidate than his opponent's supporters, something that has been apparent throughout the campaign. Mamdani's engaging content on digital platforms, his hopeful outlook for the city and his willingness to actually venture out and meet people in the metropolis has drawn an army of more than 50,000 supporters, many of them young or new participants.

Personal Attacks

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

After spending months launching various attacks at his opponent to see what might stick, the independent has narrowed his focus on attacking the candidate personally. He has called Mamdani, who was of Ugandan origin to Indian parents, an "radical", and appeared on Fox Business for an discussion with a rightwing host, where the candidate claimed the city “will not survive” his opponent as city leader. It reached a nadir recently, when Cuomo laughed along and said “that’s another problem” after a radio host said the candidate would “cheer” another terrorist attack.

Campaign Dynamics

This strategy echoes much of what the former president, who has deployed the national guard to the capital and threatened to do the same to NYC, has said about Mamdani, and perhaps that is expected. A group of wealthy residents, including some who donated to the Republican in the last presidential race, have pumped millions into trying to get Cuomo elected, as other influential figures have pressured the Republican candidate to withdraw from the race.

Candidate Backgrounds

As far as the his team, and his wealthy backers, are concerned, it should not have reached to this. When the assemblyman, one of one hundred fifty New York state assembly members, started his campaign for mayor in October 2024, few had known him, and in truth, few even paid attention.

Cuomo, by comparison, eased his way into the contest 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 wed a political dynasty member and served in a Democratic presidency. He became the state's leader in over a decade ago, 17 years after his father, the former governor, left office from the same position.

Mamdani, who was voted in to the state legislature in recently, does not have the comparable background. But his commitment to providing no-cost transit and affordable child services – along with the rent control promise – offer a more positive vision of the future than his opponent's dire warnings about “mayhem” and unfettered crime, and his promise to hire more police officers.

Recent Challenges

Nevertheless, the candidate has faced difficulties in recent days, after footage surfaced suggesting him implying the New York police department and the Israel Defense Forces were intertwined.

“We have to make clear that when the pressure of the NYPD is on your neck, it’s been laced by the Israeli military,” the candidate said in the clip, recorded at a DSA gathering in recent years. Mamdani, a longtime critic of the Israeli government who has said the nation is committing genocide in Gaza, indicated he was questioning joint training exercises between the city police and IDF.

Powerful Moment

As the race closes, the candidate appears to have won sympathy and support, however, for his response to his opponent's increasing rhetoric.

The progressive responded to Cuomo’s 9/11 remarks in an emotional video. In it, Mamdani remembered how, when he first campaigned for the legislature, a family member advised to him that he did not have to disclose about his religion. It was a lesson, Mamdani said, that many Muslim New Yorkers had been told “again and again”: “That safety could only be found in the margins of our city. That it is in those hidden spaces alone where followers of Islam could embrace their full identities, and that if we were to emerge from those seclusion, then it is in those shadows that we must set aside our beliefs.”

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