🔗 Share this article

Residents of the Big Apple will learn who will be their new city leader 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 threatened to send armed forces to the city.

In this context, New York has experienced a race for mayor that has pitted two distinctly opposing Democrats against one another. The election has turned into an increasingly bitter showdown, marked by alleged racial bias and Islamophobia, but it is the political differences between the two leading contenders that could have major implications for how the Democratic party performs in next year's congressional races.

The Rising Progressive

In the progressive corner is the democratic socialist, the young progressive candidate whose meteoric rise and people-powered movement has attracted global notice. Representing the old guard is Andrew Cuomo, the ex- New York governor now running as an independent – and enjoying the support of wealthy contributors and big business.

With days to go, it is Mamdani, the former longshot who beat Cuomo in the Democratic primary who is solidly positioned as the leading candidate. Mamdani, who has run on a platform of economic justice and promised to halt rent increases for about two million city residents, has led Cuomo by double-digits across all surveys taken in the fall, and it is very much the progressive's race to lose.

A Bitter Contest

Yet, the former governor, who stepped down as governor in 2021 amid allegations of misconduct, has made it clear he will fight to the finish, and not necessarily in an above-the-belt manner. He has criticized his opponent's goals as unachievable, and in the final stretch laughed as a broadcaster made Islamophobic remarks about the candidate, who is Muslim. Recently, Cuomo was strongly criticized as bigoted after posting an artificial intelligence video that included a slew of racist stereotypes and showed Mamdani releasing a group of criminals.

This represents a rather grubby conclusion to an race that could be key to the direction that the Democratic party, struggling in its reaction to Trump'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 compelled to address a platform that has appealed to voters' frustration at economic disparity, soaring price rises and the political elite. It would be difficult for Chuck Schumer and Hakeem Jeffries not to embrace at least a portion of the candidate's progressive proposals about affordability, given the newcomer has generated an excitement within the Democratic ranks arguably not witnessed since Bernie Sanders ran for president in 2016.

Conversely, should the former governor, who had been expected to sail to victory in the June primary, complete a surprising comeback win, it could reinforce national Democrats' current model of considered, lackluster opposition – a strategy that has infuriated the party base. A NYC rejection of Mamdani's progressive, positive message could persuade party leaders that the best plan is to stick to the political center – even as surveys show the present version of the party is widely disliked across the country.

Voter Enthusiasm

Voters in New York seem to prefer the progressive agenda. Polls show that Mamdani supporters are much more excited about their candidate than his opponent's supporters, something that has been evident during the race. The candidate's engaging content on social media, his hopeful outlook for the city and his readiness to actually venture out and connect with voters in the city has drawn an force of more than 50,000 volunteers, many of them young or new participants.

Negative Tactics

Yet, the former governor, in his late sixties, continues to fight. And with the stakes stacked against him, the former governor has resorted to negative campaigning in recent weeks.

Following extensive throwing basically everything at Mamdani to see what might resonate, Cuomo has narrowed his focus on targeting the candidate directly. He has called his rival, who was born in Uganda to Indian parents, an "radical", and popped up on Fox Business for an discussion with Maria Bartiromo, where the candidate asserted New York “will not survive” his opponent as mayor. It hit bottom last week, when the former governor laughed along and said “that’s another problem” after a radio host said Mamdani would “cheer” another terrorist attack.

Political Landscape

This strategy mirrors much of what the former president, who has sent the national guard to the capital and threatened to take similar action to NYC, has said about Mamdani, and maybe that shouldn’t come as a surprise. A set of billionaire New Yorkers, including some who donated to the Republican in the last presidential race, have pumped millions into trying to get the independent elected, as other powerful voices have urged the Republican candidate to drop out from the contest.

Candidate Backgrounds

As far as the Cuomo camp, and his wealthy backers, are worried, it should never have come to this. When the assemblyman, one of one hundred fifty New York state assembly members, launched his mayoral bid in last year, few had heard of him, and in truth, barely anyone even noticed.

The former governor, by comparison, eased his way into the contest in this year and became the immediate frontrunner. He was the political heavyweight who apparently held all the advantages. The classic establishment figure, he had married a Kennedy and worked in a Democratic presidency. He became New York governor in 2011, 17 years after his parent, the former governor, stepped down from the same position.

The progressive, who was elected to the state legislature in 2020, 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 – offer a brighter outlook of the future than Cuomo’s pessimistic predictions about “mayhem” and unfettered crime, and his promise to hire more police officers.

Recent Challenges

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

“We have to make clear that when the pressure of the police is on your neck, it’s been influenced by the Israeli military,” the candidate said in the recording, recorded at a DSA convention in 2023. Mamdani, a longtime critic of the Israeli government who has said the nation is committing genocide in Gaza, indicated he was criticizing cooperative programs between the city police and Israeli forces.

Emotional Response

With the election nearing, Mamdani appears to have won sympathy and support, however, for his response to Cuomo’s increasing rhetoric.

Mamdani addressed the independent's 9/11 remarks in an heartfelt recording. In it, the candidate 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 religion. It was a lesson, he said, that many Muslim New Yorkers had been taught “again and again”: “That security could only be found in the margins of our community. That it is in those hidden spaces alone where Muslims 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 faith.”

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