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New Yorkers will discover the identity of their new city leader this Tuesday, in a race that will decide who runs and protects the country's largest city at a time when the former president has threatened to deploy military troops to the city.

Against that backdrop, New York has witnessed a mayoral election that has pitted two very different Democrats against each other. The election has become an acrimonious showdown, marked by accusations of racism and Islamophobia, but it is the political differences between the two leading contenders that could have major implications for how the party performs in next year's congressional races.

The Progressive Challenger

In the progressive corner is Zohran Mamdani, the young democratic socialist whose meteoric rise and grassroots campaign has attracted global notice. On the establishment side is the former governor, the ex- Democratic New York governor now campaigning independently – and benefiting from the backing of ultra-rich donors and big business.

As the election approaches, it is the progressive, the one-time underdog who beat Cuomo in the party primary who is firmly installed as the leading candidate. Mamdani, who has campaigned on a platform of economic justice and promised to halt rent increases for about 2 million city residents, has led Cuomo by significant margins in every poll conducted in the fall, and it is very much the younger man's election to lose.

The Controversial Campaign

Yet, Cuomo, who resigned as the state's leader in recent years amid accusations of sexual harassment, has made it clear he will battle to the finish, and not necessarily in an above-the-belt fashion. He has criticized Mamdani's goals as unrealistic, and in recent days laughed as a broadcaster made Islamophobic remarks about Mamdani, who is Muslim. Two weeks ago, the independent was widely condemned as racist after sharing an artificial intelligence video that featured a slew of racist stereotypes and showed his opponent releasing a convicts.

It's been a particularly ugly end to an election that could be critical to the direction that the Democratic party, struggling in its response to the former president's authoritarian grabs, adopts in the near future.

National Implications

Should Mamdani secures a clear victory, the establishment party leaders who have refused to endorse his campaign will be compelled to address a platform that has resonated with Americans' frustration at economic disparity, inflation and the political elite. It would be hard for Chuck Schumer and Hakeem Jeffries not to embrace at least some of the candidate's ambitious ideas about economic justice, given the fresh face has created an enthusiasm within the party perhaps not witnessed since Bernie Sanders ran for president in 2016.

Conversely, should the former governor, who had been predicted to win easily in the June primary, achieve a remarkable comeback win, it could reinforce the party's current model of considered, uninspiring resistance – a tactic that has infuriated grassroots members. A NYC rejection of Mamdani's progressive, positive message could convince party leaders that the wisest course is to stick to the center – even as surveys show the current iteration of the Democratic party is deeply unpopular nationwide.

Voter Enthusiasm

Residents of New York appear to favor the progressive agenda. Polls show that Mamdani supporters are much more excited about their choice than his opponent's supporters, something that has been evident during the race. Mamdani's snappy videos on digital platforms, his optimistic vision for the city and his readiness to actually get out and connect with voters in the city has drawn an force of over fifty thousand supporters, many of them youth or new participants.

Negative Tactics

However, Cuomo, in his late sixties, continues to fight. And with the risks 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 resonate, Cuomo has concentrated on targeting Mamdani personally. He has labelled Mamdani, who was of Ugandan origin to Indian parents, an “extremist”, and appeared on conservative media for an discussion with Maria Bartiromo, where the candidate asserted New York “will not survive” Mamdani as mayor. It hit bottom recently, when the former governor chuckled and said “that’s another problem” after a broadcaster said Mamdani 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 Washington DC and threatened to take similar action to New York, has said about Mamdani, and maybe that shouldn’t come as a surprise. A group of wealthy residents, including some who contributed to the Republican in the 2024 election, have pumped millions into trying to get Cuomo into office, as other influential figures have pressured the Republican candidate to withdraw from the race.

Political Histories

As far as the his team, and his billionaire supporters, are concerned, it should not have reached to this point. When the assemblyman, one of one hundred fifty state legislators, started his campaign for mayor in last year, not many had known him, and in reality, few even noticed.

The former governor, by contrast, entered smoothly into the race in this year and became the immediate frontrunner. He was the big beast who seemingly held every edge. The quintessential 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 parent, Mario Cuomo, left office from the same position.

The progressive, who was voted in to the state legislature in 2020, does not have the same political heritage. But his commitment 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.

Campaign Controversies

Still, the candidate has faced some challenges 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 throat, it’s been laced by the Israeli military,” the candidate said in the recording, filmed at a DSA gathering in 2023. The progressive, a vocal opponent of Israel who has said the nation is engaging in atrocities in Gaza, suggested 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 reaction to Cuomo’s increasing rhetoric.

The progressive addressed the independent's 9/11 remarks in an emotional video. 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 realization, Mamdani said, that many local Muslims had been taught “again and again”: “That security could only be found in the shadows of our city. That it is in those shadows alone where Muslims could express their true selves, and that if we were to step out from those seclusion, then it is in those shadows that we must set aside our beliefs.”

Addressing the behavior of his opponents, who has alleged Mamd