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Residents of the Big Apple will learn the identity of their new city leader this election day, in a race that will decide who runs and protects the nation's most populous metropolis at a moment when the former president has vowed to send armed forces to the urban center.

In this context, New York has witnessed a race for mayor that has matched two very different Democrats against each other. The contest has turned into an increasingly bitter showdown, laced with accusations of racial bias and Islamophobia, but it is the political differences between the two main candidates that could have major implications for how the party performs in next year's midterm elections.

The Rising Progressive

On the left side is the democratic socialist, the 34-year-old democratic socialist whose rapid ascent and grassroots campaign has brought global notice. Representing the old guard is Andrew Cuomo, the former New York governor now running as an independent – and benefiting from the backing of wealthy contributors and big business.

As the election approaches, it is Mamdani, the one-time underdog who beat his opponent in the party primary who is solidly positioned as the leading candidate. The candidate, who has run on a agenda of affordability and promised to halt rent increases for about two million New Yorkers, has led Cuomo by double-digits across all surveys taken in October, and it is very much the younger man's race to lose.

A Bitter Contest

However, the former governor, who stepped down as the state's leader in 2021 amid accusations of sexual harassment, has made it clear he will fight to the end, and not necessarily in an fair fashion. He has criticized Mamdani's goals as unachievable, and in the final stretch chuckled along as a broadcaster made anti-Muslim comments about the candidate, who is a Muslim. Recently, the independent was widely condemned as racist after posting an artificial intelligence video that featured a series of racist stereotypes and showed his opponent freeing a group of criminals.

This represents a particularly ugly conclusion to an election that could be key to the direction that the Democratic party, struggling in its response to Trump's authoritarian grabs, adopts in the coming years.

Broader Consequences

If the progressive 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 voters' frustration at inequality, inflation and the establishment. It would be difficult for Chuck Schumer 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 perhaps not witnessed since the Vermont senator ran for president in 2016.

However, if the former governor, who had been predicted to sail to victory in the Democratic primary, achieve a surprising comeback win, it could reinforce the party's existing approach of cautious, uninspiring opposition – a tactic that has angered grassroots members. A New York rejection of Mamdani's progressive, positive message could persuade Schumer and Jeffries that the best plan is to remain in the center – even as surveys show the present version of the Democratic party is deeply unpopular nationwide.

Voter Enthusiasm

Residents of New York seem to prefer the progressive agenda. Polls show that his backers are much more excited about their candidate than Cuomo backers, something that has been evident during the race. Mamdani's snappy videos on social media, his optimistic vision for New York and his willingness to actually venture out and connect with voters in the metropolis has drawn an army of more than 50,000 volunteers, many of them youth or new participants.

Personal Attacks

However, Cuomo, 67, continues to fight. And with the risks against him, the ex-leader has resorted to ugly messaging in recent weeks.

After spending months launching various attacks at Mamdani to see what might resonate, the independent has concentrated on attacking the candidate directly. He has called his rival, who was born in Uganda to Indian parents, an "radical", and appeared on Fox Business 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 Mamdani would “cheer” another terrorist attack.

Campaign Dynamics

This strategy echoes much of what Trump, who has sent the military reserves to Washington DC and threatened to do the same to NYC, has said about the progressive, and perhaps that is expected. A group of billionaire New Yorkers, including some who contributed to Trump in the last presidential race, have pumped millions into trying to elect Cuomo into office, as other powerful voices have pressured Curtis Sliwa to drop out from the contest.

Candidate Backgrounds

For the his team, and his wealthy backers, are concerned, it should never have come to this. When the assemblyman, one of 150 New York state assembly members, started his mayoral bid in last year, few had heard of him, and in truth, few even noticed.

Cuomo, by comparison, entered smoothly into the race in this year and became the instant favorite. He was the political heavyweight who seemingly held all the advantages. The classic establishment figure, he had wed a political dynasty member and worked in a Democratic presidency. He became New York governor in 2011, 17 years after his father, the former governor, stepped down from the identical role.

The progressive, who was elected to the New York state assembly in 2020, does not have the same political heritage. But his commitment to providing no-cost transit and free childcare – along with the rent control promise – offer a brighter outlook of the future than Cuomo’s dire warnings about “mayhem” and rising criminal activity, and his vow to increase police presence.

Campaign Controversies

Still, the candidate has faced some challenges in recent days, after footage surfaced appearing to show him implying the NYPD and the IDF were connected.

“We have to make clear that when the pressure of the police is on your throat, it’s been laced by the IDF,” the candidate said in the clip, recorded at a Democratic Socialists of America convention in recent years. The progressive, a longtime critic of Israel who has said the nation is committing genocide in Gaza, indicated he was criticizing cooperative programs between the NYPD and IDF.

Emotional Response

As the race closes, the candidate appears to have won empathy and backing, however, for his response to Cuomo’s increasing rhetoric.

The progressive addressed the independent's terrorism comments in an emotional video. In it, Mamdani remembered how, when he first campaigned for state assembly, a Muslim uncle suggested to him that he did not have to tell people about his Muslim faith. It was a lesson, Mamdani said, that many local Muslims had been told “again and again”: “That security could only be found in the margins of our city. That it is in those hidden spaces alone where followers of Islam could express their full identities, and that if we were to step out from those seclusion, then it is in those shadows that we must leave our faith.”

Addressing the actions of Cuomo and Sliwa, who has alleged Mamd