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New Yorkers will find out who will be their next mayor this election day, in a contest that will determine who governs and defends the nation's most populous metropolis at a moment when the former president has vowed to send military troops to the urban center.

In this context, New York has witnessed a mayoral election that has matched two very different Democrats against each other. The election has turned into an acrimonious face-off, marked by accusations of racial bias and anti-Muslim sentiment, but it is the ideological divide between the two leading candidates that could have major implications for how the party performs in next year's midterm elections.

The Progressive Challenger

On the left side is the democratic socialist, the 34-year-old democratic socialist whose rapid ascent and people-powered movement has brought international attention. On the establishment side is Andrew Cuomo, the former New York governor now running as an independent – and benefiting from the support of ultra-rich donors and big business.

With days to go, it is Mamdani, the one-time underdog who defeated his opponent in the party primary who is firmly installed as the leading candidate. Mamdani, who has campaigned on a platform of affordability and pledged to halt rent increases for about two million New Yorkers, has led Cuomo by significant margins in every poll conducted in October, and it is very much the younger man's election to throw away.

The Controversial Campaign

Yet, the former governor, who stepped down as governor in 2021 amid allegations of misconduct, has made it clear he will fight to the end, and not necessarily in an fair manner. He has trashed Mamdani's objectives as unachievable, and in the final stretch chuckled along as a broadcaster made anti-Muslim comments about Mamdani, who is a Muslim. Two weeks ago, the independent was widely condemned as racist after posting an AI-generated ad that included a series of racial caricatures and showed his opponent freeing a convicts.

It's been a particularly ugly end to an race that could be critical to the direction that the Democratic party, struggling in its reaction to Trump's power moves, adopts in the near future.

National Implications

Should Mamdani secures a clear victory, the party establishment who have refused to endorse his bid will be forced to reckon with a platform that has resonated with Americans' anger at economic disparity, soaring price rises and the establishment. It would be hard for the Senate leader and Hakeem Jeffries not to embrace at least some of the candidate's ambitious ideas about economic justice, given the newcomer has generated an enthusiasm within the Democratic ranks arguably not seen since Bernie Sanders campaigned for the White House in 2016.

Conversely, if the former governor, who had been expected to win easily in the Democratic primary, achieve a remarkable comeback victory, it could cement national Democrats' existing approach of considered, uninspiring opposition – a tactic that has angered grassroots members. A NYC rejection of the progressive's optimistic platform could convince party leaders that the wisest course is to stick to the center – even as polls show the present version of the Democratic party is deeply unpopular across the country.

Campaign Energy

Voters in New York seem to prefer the Mamdani vision. Surveys show that his backers are much more excited about their choice than his opponent's supporters, something that has been apparent during the race. Mamdani's engaging content on digital platforms, his hopeful outlook for New York and his willingness to actually venture out and connect with voters in the metropolis has attracted an army of over fifty thousand supporters, many of them young or new participants.

Negative Tactics

However, the former governor, 67, 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 throwing basically everything at his opponent to see what might stick, the independent has concentrated on targeting the candidate directly. He has labelled his rival, who was born in Uganda to South Asian heritage, an "radical", and appeared on conservative media for an discussion with Maria Bartiromo, where Cuomo claimed New York “will not survive” Mamdani as mayor. It reached a nadir last week, when the former governor laughed along and said “that’s another problem” after a radio host said the candidate would “cheer” another terrorist incident.

Political Landscape

The line of attack echoes much of what the former president, who has sent the national guard to the capital and warned to take similar action to NYC, has said about the progressive, and perhaps that is expected. A group of wealthy residents, including some who contributed to the Republican in the 2024 election, have invested heavily into trying to elect Cuomo elected, as other powerful voices have urged Curtis Sliwa to withdraw from the contest.

Political Histories

As far as the Cuomo camp, and his wealthy backers, are worried, it should not have reached to this point. When the assemblyman, one of 150 New York state assembly members, launched his campaign for mayor in last year, not many had heard of him, and in truth, barely anyone even noticed.

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 a Democratic presidency. He assumed office as the state's leader in over a decade ago, 17 years after his parent, Mario Cuomo, 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 commitment to providing no-cost transit and affordable child services – along with the freeze-the-rent pledge – present a brighter outlook of the city's direction than his opponent's pessimistic predictions about “mayhem” and unfettered crime, and his promise to increase police presence.

Campaign Controversies

Still, Mamdani has encountered difficulties in recent days, after video surfaced suggesting him implying the New York police department and the Israel Defense Forces were connected.

“We have to make clear that when the pressure of the NYPD is on your neck, it’s been influenced by the IDF,” Mamdani said in the clip, filmed at a Democratic Socialists of America gathering in 2023. Mamdani, a vocal opponent of the Israeli government who has said the country is engaging in atrocities in Gaza, suggested he was questioning joint training exercises between the NYPD and IDF.

Emotional Response

As the race closes, the candidate appears to have won sympathy and support, however, for his response to Cuomo’s escalating attacks.

The progressive responded to the independent's terrorism comments in an emotional video. In it, the candidate remembered how, when he first campaigned for state assembly, a family member advised to him that he did not have to disclose about his religion. It was a realization, he said, that many local Muslims had been told “again and again”: “That safety could only be found in the shadows of our community. That it is in those shadows alone where followers of Islam could express their true selves, and that if we were to emerge from those shadows, then it is in those shadows that we must leave our beliefs.”

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