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Residents of the Big Apple will find out who will be their next mayor this election day, in a contest that will decide who runs and protects the nation's largest city at a moment when the former president has threatened to send military troops to the urban center.

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

The Rising Progressive

On the left side is Zohran Mamdani, the young progressive candidate whose rapid ascent and grassroots campaign has attracted global notice. Representing the old guard is the former governor, the former New York governor now running as an independent – and enjoying the support of ultra-rich donors and big business.

As the election approaches, it is the progressive, the one-time underdog who defeated Cuomo in the party primary who is firmly installed as the frontrunner. The candidate, who has run on a platform of economic justice and pledged to halt rent increases for about 2 million New Yorkers, has outpaced Cuomo by significant margins across all surveys conducted in October, and it is very much the progressive's election to throw away.

The Controversial Campaign

However, Cuomo, who resigned as the state's leader in 2021 amid allegations of sexual harassment, has made it clear he will fight to the finish, and not necessarily in an fair manner. He has criticized Mamdani's objectives as unachievable, and in recent days laughed as a broadcaster made anti-Muslim comments about Mamdani, who is Muslim. Two weeks ago, Cuomo was strongly criticized as racist after sharing an AI-generated ad that featured a series of racial caricatures and showed Mamdani freeing a group of criminals.

It's been a particularly ugly conclusion to an election that could be key to the path that the Democratic party, floundering in its response to Trump's power moves, adopts in the coming years.

Broader Consequences

Should the progressive secures a clear victory, the establishment party leaders who have refused to endorse his bid will be forced to reckon with a message that has resonated with voters' anger at inequality, inflation and the political elite. It would be hard for the Senate leader and Hakeem Jeffries not to embrace at least a portion of the candidate's progressive proposals about economic justice, given the fresh face has created an excitement within the party arguably not seen since the Vermont senator ran for president eight years ago.

Conversely, if the former governor, who had been expected to sail to victory in the Democratic primary, achieve a surprising riches-to-rags-to-riches victory, it could reinforce the party's existing approach of cautious, uninspiring resistance – a strategy that has angered grassroots members. A NYC rejection of the progressive's optimistic platform could convince Schumer and Jeffries that the best plan is to remain in the political center – even as surveys show the current iteration of the Democratic party is widely disliked nationwide.

Voter Enthusiasm

Voters in New York appear to favor the Mamdani vision. Surveys show that Mamdani supporters are much more excited about their choice than his opponent's supporters, something that has been apparent throughout the campaign. The candidate's snappy videos on social media, his hopeful outlook for the city and his willingness to actually get out and connect with voters in the metropolis has attracted an force of over fifty thousand volunteers, many of them youth or first-time voters.

Personal Attacks

Yet, Cuomo, in his late sixties, isn't giving up. And with the stakes against him, the ex-leader has turned to ugly messaging in recent weeks.

Following extensive throwing basically everything at his opponent to see what might resonate, Cuomo has concentrated on attacking the candidate personally. He has labelled his rival, who was born in Uganda to Indian parents, an “extremist”, and popped up on Fox Business for an discussion with Maria Bartiromo, where the candidate asserted New York “will not survive” Mamdani as city leader. It hit bottom recently, when the former governor chuckled and said “that’s another problem” after a broadcaster said the candidate would “cheer” another 9/11-style attack.

Campaign Dynamics

The line of attack mirrors much of what Trump, who has sent the national guard to Washington DC and warned to take similar action to New York, has said about Mamdani, and maybe that is expected. A group of wealthy residents, including some who contributed to the Republican in the last presidential race, have pumped millions into trying to get the independent into office, as other powerful voices have urged the Republican candidate to drop out from the contest.

Political Histories

For the his team, and his wealthy backers, are worried, it should not have reached to this. When Mamdani, one of 150 New York state assembly members, launched his campaign for mayor in last year, not many had heard of him, and in reality, few even paid attention.

Cuomo, by contrast, eased his way into the contest in this year and became the instant favorite. He was the political heavyweight who apparently held all the advantages. The classic political insider, he had wed a Kennedy and worked in Bill Clinton’s administration. 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 elected to the New York state assembly in recently, does not have the same political heritage. But his commitment to providing free buses and affordable child services – along with the rent control promise – offer a brighter outlook of the city's direction than Cuomo’s dire warnings about “mayhem” and unfettered crime, and his vow to hire more police officers.

Recent Challenges

Nevertheless, Mamdani has encountered some challenges in recent days, after footage surfaced appearing to show 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 throat, it’s been influenced by the IDF,” the candidate said in the recording, filmed at a DSA convention in recent years. Mamdani, a vocal opponent of Israel who has said the country is engaging in atrocities in the Palestinian territory, suggested he was questioning cooperative programs between the NYPD and Israeli forces.

Emotional Response

With the election nearing, the candidate appears to have won sympathy and support, however, for his response to Cuomo’s escalating attacks.

Mamdani addressed the independent's 9/11 remarks in an emotional video. In it, the candidate remembered how, when he first campaigned for state assembly, a family member suggested to him that he did not have to disclose about his Muslim faith. It was a lesson, Mamdani said, that many Muslim New Yorkers had been told “again and again”: “That security could only be found in the shadows of our community. That it is in those shadows alone where Muslims could express their full identities, and that if we were to step out from those shadows, then it is in those shadows that we must leave our beliefs.”

Speaking to the behavior of Cuomo and Sliwa, who has claimed Mamd