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Residents of the Big Apple will discover who will be their new city leader this election day, in a race that will decide who governs and defends the nation's largest city at a moment when the former president has threatened to deploy military troops to the urban center.

In this context, New York has witnessed a mayoral election that has pitted two distinctly opposing Democrats against each other. The election has turned into an acrimonious showdown, laced with accusations of racism and Islamophobia, but it is the ideological divide between the two leading candidates that could have significant consequences for how the party fares 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 grassroots campaign has brought global notice. On the establishment side is Andrew Cuomo, the ex- Democratic New York governor now running as an independent – and benefiting from the backing of ultra-rich donors and corporations.

With days to go, it is the progressive, the former longshot who beat his opponent in the party primary who is firmly installed as the frontrunner. Mamdani, who has run on a platform of affordability and promised to freeze rent for about 2 million city residents, has outpaced his rival by double-digits across all surveys taken in the fall, and it is very much the progressive's race to throw away.

The Controversial Campaign

However, the former governor, who resigned as governor in recent years amid allegations of sexual harassment, has stated clearly 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 Mamdani, who is Muslim. Recently, the independent was strongly criticized as racist after sharing an artificial intelligence video that included a slew of racist stereotypes and showed Mamdani freeing a group of criminals.

It's been a particularly ugly conclusion to an race that could be key to the path that the Democratic party, floundering in its response to the former president's authoritarian grabs, takes in the coming years.

National Implications

Should the progressive secures a clear victory, the party establishment who have declined to support his campaign will be forced to reckon with a platform that has appealed to voters' anger at economic disparity, inflation and the establishment. It would be hard for the Senate leader and the House leader not to adopt at least a portion of the candidate's progressive proposals about affordability, given the newcomer has generated an excitement within the party perhaps not witnessed since the Vermont senator campaigned for the White House in 2016.

However, should the former governor, who had been expected to sail to victory in the June primary, achieve a surprising riches-to-rags-to-riches victory, it could cement national Democrats' current model of cautious, uninspiring resistance – a strategy that has infuriated the party base. A NYC rejection of the progressive's optimistic platform could convince party leaders that the best plan is to remain in the center – even as surveys show the current iteration of the Democratic party is widely disliked nationwide.

Campaign Energy

Voters in the city appear to favor the progressive agenda. Surveys show that Mamdani supporters are far more enthusiastic about their choice than Cuomo backers, something that has been evident during the race. The candidate's snappy videos on digital platforms, his optimistic vision for the city and his readiness to actually venture out and connect with voters in the metropolis has attracted an army of more than 50,000 supporters, many of them young or new participants.

Negative Tactics

Yet, the former governor, 67, isn't giving up. And with the risks against him, the ex-leader has turned to ugly messaging in recent weeks.

After spending months launching various attacks at his opponent to see what might stick, the independent has narrowed his focus on attacking Mamdani directly. He has called Mamdani, who was born in Uganda to Indian parents, an "radical", and popped up on Fox Business for an discussion with a rightwing host, where the candidate claimed New York “will not survive” Mamdani as mayor. It hit bottom last week, when Cuomo laughed along and said “that’s another problem” after a broadcaster said the candidate would “cheer” another 9/11-style attack.

Political Landscape

The line of attack mirrors much of what Trump, who has deployed 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 group of wealthy residents, including some who donated to the Republican in the 2024 election, have invested heavily into trying to get Cuomo elected, as other powerful voices have pressured Curtis Sliwa to withdraw from the race.

Political Histories

For the Cuomo camp, and his billionaire supporters, are concerned, it should never have come to this. When Mamdani, one of one hundred fifty New York state assembly members, started his mayoral bid in last year, not many had heard of him, and in truth, few even paid attention.

Cuomo, by comparison, eased his way into the race in this year and became the immediate frontrunner. He was the political heavyweight who seemingly held every edge. The classic political insider, he had wed a Kennedy and worked in a Democratic presidency. He assumed office as New York governor in 2011, 17 years after his father, Mario Cuomo, stepped down from the identical role.

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 free childcare – along with the freeze-the-rent pledge – present a more positive vision of the future than his opponent's dire warnings about “mayhem” and unfettered crime, and his promise to increase police presence.

Recent Challenges

Nevertheless, Mamdani has faced difficulties in recent days, after video surfaced suggesting him implying the New York police department and the IDF were intertwined.

“We have to make clear that when the boot of the police is on your throat, it’s been influenced by the Israeli military,” Mamdani said in the recording, filmed at a DSA gathering in 2023. The progressive, a longtime critic of Israel who has said the nation is engaging in atrocities in the Palestinian territory, suggested he was criticizing cooperative programs between the NYPD and Israeli forces.

Powerful Moment

As the race closes, Mamdani appears to have won sympathy and support, however, for his response to his opponent's escalating attacks.

Mamdani addressed Cuomo’s 9/11 remarks in an emotional video. In it, Mamdani recalled how, when he first ran for state assembly, a family member advised to him that he did not have to disclose about his Muslim faith. It was a lesson, he said, that many Muslim New Yorkers had been taught “again and again”: “That safety 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 shadows, then it is in those shadows that we must set aside our faith.”

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