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Residents of the Big Apple will find out the identity of their next mayor this Tuesday, in a race that will decide who runs and protects the country's most populous metropolis at a time when Donald Trump has threatened to deploy military troops to the city.

In this context, New York has witnessed a mayoral election that has matched two distinctly opposing Democratic figures against one another. The election has become an increasingly bitter showdown, marked by accusations of racial bias and Islamophobia, but it is the ideological divide between the two leading candidates that could have major implications for how the Democratic party fares in next year's congressional races.

The Rising Progressive

In the progressive corner is the democratic socialist, the young democratic socialist whose rapid ascent and people-powered movement has brought global notice. On the establishment side is Andrew Cuomo, the former Democratic New York governor now running as an independent – and enjoying the support of ultra-rich donors and big business.

With days to go, it is Mamdani, the one-time underdog who beat Cuomo in the party primary who is solidly positioned as the frontrunner. The candidate, who has campaigned on a agenda of economic justice and pledged to freeze rent for about 2 million New Yorkers, has outpaced his rival by significant margins in every poll taken in the fall, and it is very much the progressive's race to lose.

The Controversial Campaign

However, the former governor, who stepped down as governor in 2021 amid accusations of sexual harassment, has stated clearly he will fight to the end, and not necessarily in an fair manner. He has criticized Mamdani's objectives as unachievable, and in recent days laughed as a radio host made anti-Muslim comments about the candidate, who is a Muslim. Recently, the independent was strongly criticized as racist after posting an artificial intelligence video that featured a series of racist stereotypes and showed Mamdani freeing a convicts.

It's been a particularly ugly conclusion to an race that could be critical to the path that the party, struggling in its reaction to Trump's power moves, takes in the near future.

National Implications

Should the progressive secures a clear victory, the establishment party leaders who have declined to support his campaign will be forced to reckon with a message that has resonated with Americans' 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 some of the candidate's progressive proposals about affordability, given the fresh face has created an enthusiasm within the Democratic ranks arguably not witnessed since the Vermont senator campaigned for the White House eight years ago.

However, if Cuomo, who had been predicted to sail to victory in the June primary, complete a remarkable comeback victory, it could cement national Democrats' existing approach of cautious, uninspiring resistance – a tactic that has infuriated the party base. A NYC defeat of the progressive's progressive, positive message could convince Schumer and Jeffries 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.

Voter Enthusiasm

Voters in the city 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 apparent throughout the campaign. Mamdani's engaging content on digital platforms, his hopeful outlook for the city and his willingness to actually venture 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

However, the former governor, in his late sixties, isn't giving up. And with the risks against him, the former governor has turned to ugly messaging in recent weeks.

After spending months throwing basically everything at Mamdani to see what might resonate, Cuomo has concentrated on attacking Mamdani directly. He has labelled his rival, who was born in Uganda to South Asian heritage, an "radical", and appeared on Fox Business for an interview with a rightwing host, where Cuomo claimed the city “will not survive” Mamdani as mayor. It reached a nadir last week, when the former governor chuckled and said “that’s another problem” after a radio host said Mamdani would “cheer” another terrorist incident.

Campaign Dynamics

The line of attack mirrors much of what Trump, who has deployed the military reserves to the capital and threatened to take similar action to NYC, has said about the progressive, and perhaps that shouldn’t come as a surprise. A set of wealthy residents, including some who donated to Trump in the 2024 election, have invested heavily into trying to elect the independent elected, as other influential figures have urged Curtis Sliwa to withdraw from the contest.

Political Histories

For the Cuomo camp, and his wealthy backers, are worried, it should never have come to this. When Mamdani, one of 150 state legislators, launched his campaign for mayor in last year, few had heard of him, and in reality, few even paid attention.

The former governor, by comparison, eased his way into the contest 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 worked in a Democratic presidency. He assumed office as New York governor in over a decade ago, seventeen years after his parent, Mario Cuomo, left office from the identical role.

Mamdani, who was voted in to the state legislature in recently, does not have the comparable background. But his dedication to providing no-cost transit and free childcare – along with the rent control promise – offer a brighter outlook of the future than his opponent's dire warnings about “mayhem” and rising criminal activity, and his promise to increase police presence.

Recent Challenges

Still, Mamdani has faced some challenges in the final phase, after video emerged suggesting him suggesting the New York police department and the IDF were connected.

“We have to make clear that when the pressure of the NYPD is on your neck, it’s been laced by the Israeli military,” the candidate said in the recording, recorded at a Democratic Socialists of America convention in recent years. Mamdani, a vocal opponent of Israel who has said the country is committing genocide in the Palestinian territory, suggested he was questioning joint training exercises between the city police and Israeli forces.

Powerful Moment

With the election nearing, the candidate seems to have gained empathy and backing, however, for his response to his opponent's escalating attacks.

Mamdani responded to Cuomo’s 9/11 remarks in an emotional video. In it, Mamdani remembered 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, Mamdani said, that many Muslim New Yorkers had been told “again and again”: “That safety could only be found in the shadows of our city. That it is in those shadows alone where followers of Islam could express their full identities, and that if we were to emerge from those seclusion, then it is in those shadows that we must leave our beliefs.”

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