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New Yorkers will discover who will be their next mayor this election day, in a race that will decide who runs and protects the nation's largest city at a time when the former president has vowed to deploy military troops to the urban center.

In this context, New York has experienced a mayoral election that has matched two very different Democrats against one another. The contest has become an increasingly bitter showdown, marked by alleged racism and Islamophobia, but it is the political differences between the two leading contenders that could have major implications for how the party fares in next year's midterm elections.

The Rising Progressive

In the progressive corner is the democratic socialist, the 34-year-old democratic socialist whose rapid ascent and grassroots campaign has attracted global notice. Representing the old guard is the former governor, the ex- Democratic New York governor now campaigning independently – and benefiting from the support of ultra-rich donors and corporations.

With days to go, it is Mamdani, the former longshot who defeated Cuomo in the party primary who is firmly installed as the leading candidate. The candidate, who has campaigned on a agenda of affordability and pledged to freeze rent for about two million New Yorkers, has led Cuomo by significant margins across all surveys conducted in October, and it is very much the younger man's election to throw away.

The Controversial Campaign

However, Cuomo, who resigned as the state's leader in 2021 amid accusations of misconduct, has stated clearly he will battle to the end, and not necessarily in an fair fashion. He has criticized his opponent's goals as unrealistic, and in the final stretch chuckled along as a radio host made anti-Muslim comments about the candidate, who is a Muslim. Recently, the independent was widely condemned as racist after sharing an artificial intelligence video that included a slew of racist stereotypes and showed his opponent releasing a convicts.

It's been a rather grubby end to an race that could be key to the path that the Democratic party, struggling in its reaction to the former president's power moves, takes in the coming years.

Broader Consequences

Should Mamdani secures a clear victory, the establishment party leaders who have declined to support his bid will be compelled to address a platform that has resonated with voters' frustration at economic disparity, inflation and the political elite. It would be difficult for the Senate leader and Hakeem Jeffries not to embrace at least a portion of Mamdani's ambitious ideas about affordability, given the newcomer has generated an enthusiasm within the party arguably not seen since the Vermont senator campaigned for the White House in 2016.

However, if 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, lackluster opposition – a tactic that has infuriated the party base. A New York defeat of the progressive's progressive, positive message could convince Schumer and Jeffries that the best plan is to stick to the center – even as surveys show the current iteration of the Democratic party is widely disliked nationwide.

Campaign Energy

Residents of New York seem to prefer the Mamdani vision. Surveys show that Mamdani supporters are far more enthusiastic about their candidate than his opponent's supporters, something that has been apparent throughout the campaign. Mamdani's snappy videos on digital platforms, his optimistic vision for New York and his readiness to actually get out and connect with voters in the city has attracted an army of more than 50,000 volunteers, many of them young or new participants.

Negative Tactics

However, the former governor, 67, isn't giving up. And with the stakes stacked against him, the ex-leader has resorted to ugly messaging in recent weeks.

Following extensive throwing basically everything at Mamdani to see what might stick, Cuomo has concentrated on attacking Mamdani directly. He has called his rival, who was of Ugandan origin to South Asian heritage, an “extremist”, and appeared on Fox Business for an interview with a rightwing host, where Cuomo claimed the city “will not survive” his opponent as mayor. It hit bottom recently, when Cuomo chuckled and said “that’s another problem” after a broadcaster said the candidate would “cheer” another 9/11-style incident.

Campaign Dynamics

This strategy mirrors much of what the former president, who has sent the military reserves to the capital and warned to take similar action to NYC, has said about Mamdani, and perhaps that is expected. A group of billionaire New Yorkers, including some who contributed to Trump in the last presidential race, have invested heavily into trying to elect Cuomo into office, as other powerful voices have pressured Curtis Sliwa to withdraw from the race.

Candidate Backgrounds

As far as the his team, and his billionaire supporters, are concerned, it should never have come to this point. When Mamdani, one of one hundred fifty New York state assembly members, launched his mayoral bid in last year, not many had heard of him, and in truth, barely anyone even paid attention.

Cuomo, by contrast, entered smoothly into the race in this year and became the immediate frontrunner. He was the political heavyweight who apparently held every edge. The classic political insider, he had wed a political dynasty member and served in Bill Clinton’s administration. He became New York governor in 2011, 17 years after his father, the former governor, stepped down from the same position.

The progressive, who was voted in to the state legislature in 2020, does not have the comparable background. But his dedication to providing free buses and affordable child services – along with the rent control promise – present a brighter outlook of the city's direction than Cuomo’s pessimistic predictions about “mayhem” and rising criminal activity, and his vow to hire more police officers.

Recent Challenges

Still, Mamdani has faced some challenges in recent days, after video surfaced suggesting him implying the New York police department and the IDF 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,” the candidate said in the recording, filmed at a DSA gathering in 2023. The progressive, a longtime critic of the Israeli government who has said the country is engaging in atrocities in the Palestinian territory, indicated he was criticizing joint training exercises between the NYPD and IDF.

Emotional Response

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

Mamdani responded to Cuomo’s 9/11 remarks in an heartfelt recording. In it, Mamdani recalled how, when he first ran for the legislature, a Muslim uncle advised to him that he did not have to disclose about his Muslim faith. It was a realization, Mamdani 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 express 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 faith.”

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