New Yorkers will learn the identity of their new city leader this Tuesday, in a contest that will determine who runs and protects the nation's largest city at a time 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 Democratic figures against one another. The contest has turned into an acrimonious face-off, marked by accusations of racism and anti-Muslim sentiment, but it is the political differences between the two leading contenders that could have significant consequences for how the party performs in next year's congressional races.
In the progressive corner is the democratic socialist, the 34-year-old progressive candidate whose rapid ascent and grassroots campaign has brought international attention. On the establishment side is Andrew Cuomo, the former Democratic New York governor now running as an independent â and enjoying the support of wealthy contributors and big business.
As the election approaches, it is the progressive, the one-time underdog who beat Cuomo in the Democratic primary who is solidly positioned as the leading candidate. The candidate, who has campaigned on a platform of economic justice and pledged to halt rent increases for about 2 million New Yorkers, has led his rival by significant margins across all surveys taken in October, and it is very much the progressive's election to throw away.
Yet, Cuomo, who resigned as governor in recent years amid allegations of sexual harassment, has made it clear he will fight to the end, and not necessarily in an fair fashion. He has trashed his opponent's objectives as unrealistic, and in the final stretch laughed as a broadcaster made anti-Muslim comments about the candidate, who is a Muslim. Recently, Cuomo was widely condemned as bigoted after sharing an AI-generated ad that included a slew of racist stereotypes and showed his opponent freeing a convicts.
This represents a rather grubby end to an election that could be key to the direction that the Democratic party, floundering in its response to the former president's authoritarian grabs, adopts in the coming years.
If Mamdani wins convincingly, 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 inequality, inflation and the establishment. It would be difficult for the Senate leader and the House leader not to adopt at least a portion of the candidate's progressive proposals about economic justice, given the newcomer has generated an enthusiasm within the Democratic ranks perhaps not witnessed since the Vermont senator campaigned for the White House eight years ago.
Conversely, if the former governor, who had been expected to sail to victory in the June primary, achieve a surprising riches-to-rags-to-riches win, it could cement national Democrats' existing approach of considered, uninspiring resistance â a tactic that has angered grassroots members. A NYC rejection of the progressive's progressive, positive message could convince Schumer and Jeffries that the wisest course is to remain in the political center â even as polls show the current iteration of the party is deeply unpopular nationwide.
Residents of New York seem to prefer the Mamdani vision. Polls show that Mamdani supporters are far more enthusiastic about their candidate than his opponent's supporters, something that has been apparent during the race. Mamdani's snappy videos on digital platforms, his optimistic vision for the city and his readiness to actually get out and meet people in the metropolis has attracted an force of over fifty thousand volunteers, many of them young or first-time voters.
Yet, the former governor, 67, isn't giving up. And with the risks against him, the former governor has turned to negative campaigning in recent weeks.
After spending months throwing basically everything at Mamdani to see what might stick, the independent has narrowed his focus on attacking the candidate directly. He has labelled his rival, who was of Ugandan origin to Indian parents, an âextremistâ, and appeared on Fox Business for an interview with Maria Bartiromo, where Cuomo asserted New York âwill not surviveâ his opponent as mayor. It hit bottom last week, when Cuomo laughed along and said âthatâs another problemâ after a radio host said Mamdani would âcheerâ another 9/11-style attack.
This strategy echoes much of what Trump, who has sent the national guard to Washington DC and threatened to do the same to NYC, has said about the progressive, and maybe that shouldnât 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 the independent into office, as other influential figures have urged the Republican candidate to drop out from the race.
As far as the Cuomo camp, and his wealthy backers, are concerned, it should never have come to this. When Mamdani, one of one hundred fifty New York state assembly members, launched his mayoral bid in last year, few had known him, and in reality, barely anyone even noticed.
Cuomo, by comparison, eased his way 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 served in a Democratic presidency. He became New York governor in over a decade ago, seventeen years after his father, the former governor, left office from the same position.
Mamdani, who was voted in to the New York state assembly in 2020, does not have the comparable background. But his dedication to providing no-cost transit and affordable child services â along with the freeze-the-rent pledge â present a more positive vision of the future than his opponent's dire warnings about âmayhemâ and unfettered crime, and his vow to increase police presence.
Nevertheless, Mamdani has faced difficulties in the final phase, after video surfaced appearing to show him suggesting the New York police department and the IDF were connected.
âWe have to make clear that when the pressure of the police is on your throat, itâs been laced by the IDF,â Mamdani said in the recording, filmed at a DSA gathering in recent years. The progressive, a longtime critic of Israel who has said the country is engaging in atrocities in Gaza, indicated he was questioning joint training exercises between the NYPD and IDF.
With the election nearing, Mamdani appears to have won empathy and backing, however, for his reaction to Cuomoâs increasing rhetoric.
Mamdani addressed Cuomoâs 9/11 remarks in an emotional video. In it, Mamdani recalled how, when he first ran for state assembly, a Muslim uncle suggested to him that he did not have to disclose about his religion. It was a lesson, he said, that many local Muslims had been taught âagain and againâ: âThat safety 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 true selves, and that if we were to emerge from those seclusion, then it is in those silence that we must set aside our beliefs.â
Addressing the actions of his opponents, who has alleged Mamd
Elena Hartwell is a multidisciplinary artist and educator passionate about fostering creative communities in London.