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New Yorkers will discover the identity of their new city leader this election day, in a contest that will determine who governs and protects the country's most populous metropolis at a moment when the former president has threatened to send armed forces to the urban center.

Against that backdrop, New York has witnessed a race for mayor that has matched two distinctly opposing Democratic figures against one another. The contest has become an increasingly bitter face-off, marked by accusations of racism and anti-Muslim sentiment, but it is the political differences between the two main contenders that could have major implications for how the party fares in next year's congressional races.

The Progressive Challenger

On the left side is the democratic socialist, the young progressive candidate whose meteoric rise and grassroots campaign has attracted international attention. Representing the old guard is the former governor, the ex- Democratic New York governor now campaigning independently – and benefiting from the backing of ultra-rich donors and corporations.

With days to go, it is Mamdani, the former longshot who defeated Cuomo in the Democratic primary who is firmly installed as the frontrunner. Mamdani, who has run on a platform of economic justice and promised to freeze rent for about two million city residents, has led his rival by double-digits across all surveys taken in October, and it is very much the younger man's race to throw away.

The Controversial Campaign

However, Cuomo, who stepped down as governor in 2021 amid accusations of sexual harassment, has stated clearly he will battle to the end, and not necessarily in an fair fashion. He has criticized his opponent's goals as unachievable, and in the final stretch chuckled along as a radio host made Islamophobic remarks about Mamdani, who is Muslim. Two weeks ago, the independent was strongly criticized as bigoted after posting an artificial intelligence video that featured a slew of racist stereotypes and showed his opponent releasing a group of criminals.

It's been a rather grubby end to an election that could be key to the path that the party, floundering in its response to the former president's power moves, takes in the coming years.

National Implications

Should Mamdani secures a clear victory, the establishment party leaders who have declined to support his bid will be forced to reckon with a message that has appealed to Americans' anger at economic disparity, inflation and the political elite. It would be difficult for Chuck Schumer and the House leader not to adopt at least a portion of Mamdani's ambitious ideas about affordability, given the fresh face has created an excitement within the party perhaps not seen since the Vermont senator ran for president in 2016.

However, if Cuomo, who had been expected to sail to victory in the June primary, achieve a surprising comeback win, it could reinforce the party's existing approach of cautious, lackluster resistance – a tactic that has angered grassroots members. A New York rejection of the progressive's optimistic platform could persuade Schumer and Jeffries that the wisest course is to remain in the political center – even as polls show the present version of the Democratic party is widely disliked nationwide.

Voter Enthusiasm

Residents of the city seem to prefer the Mamdani vision. Surveys show that Mamdani supporters are much more excited about their choice than Cuomo backers, something that has been evident throughout the campaign. The candidate's snappy videos on social media, his hopeful outlook for New York and his willingness to actually venture out and meet people in the city has drawn an force of over fifty thousand supporters, many of them youth or first-time voters.

Negative Tactics

However, Cuomo, 67, continues to fight. And with the risks against him, the former governor has turned to negative campaigning in the final days.

Following extensive launching various attacks at his opponent to see what might resonate, the independent has narrowed his focus on targeting the candidate directly. He has called Mamdani, who was born in Uganda to South Asian heritage, an "radical", and popped up on conservative media for an interview with Maria Bartiromo, where Cuomo asserted the city “will not survive” his opponent as city leader. It reached a nadir recently, when Cuomo laughed along and said “that’s another problem” after a broadcaster said Mamdani would “cheer” another terrorist attack.

Political Landscape

This strategy mirrors much of what the former president, who has deployed the military reserves to Washington DC and threatened to take similar action to NYC, has said about Mamdani, and maybe that shouldn’t come as a surprise. A set of billionaire New Yorkers, including some who donated to the Republican in the last presidential race, have invested heavily into trying to get Cuomo elected, as other powerful voices have pressured the Republican candidate to withdraw from the race.

Political Histories

For the his team, and his billionaire supporters, are concerned, it should not have reached to this. When Mamdani, one of one hundred fifty state legislators, launched his mayoral bid in last year, few had known him, and in reality, barely anyone 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 big beast who apparently held every edge. The quintessential establishment figure, he had wed a Kennedy and served in Bill Clinton’s administration. He became New York governor in 2011, seventeen years after his father, Mario Cuomo, left office from the same position.

Mamdani, who was elected to the state legislature in 2020, does not have the same political heritage. But his dedication to providing free buses and affordable child services – along with the rent control promise – offer a more positive vision of the city's direction than Cuomo’s pessimistic predictions about “mayhem” and unfettered crime, and his vow to hire more police officers.

Campaign Controversies

Still, Mamdani has faced some challenges in recent days, after footage emerged suggesting him suggesting the New York police department and the IDF were connected.

“We have to make clear that when the boot of the police is on your neck, it’s been laced by the IDF,” the candidate said in the recording, filmed at a Democratic Socialists of America gathering in recent years. The progressive, a longtime critic of the Israeli government who has said the nation is engaging in atrocities in Gaza, suggested he was criticizing joint training exercises between the city police and IDF.

Emotional Response

As the race closes, the candidate appears to have won empathy and backing, however, for his response to his opponent's escalating attacks.

The progressive addressed the independent's terrorism comments in an emotional video. In it, Mamdani remembered how, when he first campaigned for the legislature, a family member suggested to him that he did not have to disclose about his Muslim faith. It was a realization, Mamdani said, that many local Muslims had been taught “again and again”: “That safety could only be found in the margins 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 silence that we must set aside our beliefs.”

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