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New Yorkers will learn who will be their next mayor this Tuesday, in a race that will decide who governs and defends the country's most populous metropolis at a time when the former president has vowed to deploy military troops to the city.

Against that backdrop, New York has witnessed a mayoral election that has pitted two very different Democratic figures against one another. The contest has turned into an acrimonious showdown, laced with alleged racism and anti-Muslim sentiment, but it is the ideological divide between the two main contenders that could have major implications for how the party fares in next year's congressional races.

The Progressive Challenger

In the progressive corner is Zohran Mamdani, the young democratic socialist whose rapid ascent and people-powered movement has brought international attention. Representing the old guard is the former governor, the former New York governor now campaigning independently – and enjoying the support of wealthy contributors and corporations.

As the election approaches, it is the progressive, the former longshot who defeated his opponent in the Democratic primary who is firmly installed as the frontrunner. Mamdani, who has run on a agenda of affordability and promised to halt rent increases for about two million city residents, has led his rival by significant margins in every poll taken in October, and it is very much the younger man's race to lose.

A Bitter Contest

However, Cuomo, who resigned as governor in 2021 amid allegations of misconduct, has stated clearly he will fight to the end, and not necessarily in an fair manner. He has trashed his opponent's goals as unrealistic, and in the final stretch chuckled along as a radio host made anti-Muslim comments about the candidate, who is a Muslim. Two weeks ago, Cuomo was strongly criticized as bigoted after posting an artificial intelligence video that included a slew of racial caricatures and showed Mamdani freeing a convicts.

It's been a particularly ugly conclusion to an election that could be key to the direction that the party, struggling in its reaction to Trump's authoritarian grabs, takes in the near future.

National Implications

Should the progressive wins convincingly, the establishment party leaders who have refused to endorse his bid will be forced to reckon with a message that has appealed to Americans' anger at economic disparity, inflation and the establishment. It would be hard for Chuck Schumer and Hakeem Jeffries not to adopt at least some of Mamdani's ambitious ideas about economic justice, given the fresh face has generated an enthusiasm within the Democratic ranks perhaps not witnessed since the Vermont senator campaigned for the White House eight years ago.

However, should the former governor, who had been expected to sail to victory in the June primary, complete a remarkable comeback win, it could reinforce the party's existing approach of cautious, lackluster opposition – a strategy that has infuriated grassroots members. A New York rejection of the progressive's progressive, positive message could persuade party leaders that the best plan is to stick to the center – even as polls show the present version of the party is widely disliked across the country.

Campaign Energy

Residents of the city seem to prefer the progressive agenda. Polls show that Mamdani supporters are far more enthusiastic about their choice than Cuomo backers, something that has been apparent throughout the campaign. The candidate's engaging content on social media, his optimistic vision for the city and his readiness to actually get out and connect with voters in the city has attracted an force of more than 50,000 supporters, many of them young or first-time voters.

Negative Tactics

However, the former governor, in his late sixties, continues to fight. And with the risks against him, the former governor has turned to negative campaigning in recent weeks.

Following extensive launching various attacks at Mamdani to see what might stick, Cuomo has concentrated on attacking Mamdani directly. He has labelled his rival, who was of Ugandan origin to Indian parents, an “extremist”, and appeared on conservative media for an interview with Maria Bartiromo, where the candidate asserted the city “will not survive” Mamdani as city leader. It reached a nadir recently, when Cuomo chuckled and said “that’s another problem” after a radio host said the candidate would “cheer” another terrorist attack.

Campaign Dynamics

The line of attack echoes much of what Trump, who has deployed the military reserves to the capital and threatened to do the same to New York, has said about Mamdani, and maybe that is expected. A group of billionaire New Yorkers, including some who donated to Trump in the last presidential race, have invested heavily into trying to get Cuomo elected, as other influential figures have urged Curtis Sliwa to drop out from the race.

Candidate Backgrounds

As far as the his team, and his wealthy backers, are concerned, it should never have come to this. When the assemblyman, one of one hundred fifty New York state assembly members, started his campaign for mayor in last year, not many had heard of him, and in truth, few even noticed.

Cuomo, by comparison, eased his way into the contest in this year and became the instant favorite. He was the big beast who seemingly held all the advantages. The classic establishment figure, he had wed a Kennedy and worked in a Democratic presidency. He assumed office as New York governor in over a decade ago, seventeen years after his father, Mario Cuomo, stepped down from the identical role.

Mamdani, who was voted in to the New York state assembly in 2020, does not have the same political heritage. But his commitment to providing no-cost transit and affordable child services – along with the freeze-the-rent pledge – offer a brighter outlook of the future than his opponent's pessimistic predictions about “mayhem” and unfettered crime, and his vow to hire more police officers.

Recent Challenges

Still, the candidate has faced difficulties in the final phase, after footage emerged appearing to show him implying the NYPD and the IDF were intertwined.

“We have to make clear that when the boot of the NYPD is on your throat, it’s been laced by the IDF,” Mamdani said in the recording, filmed at a DSA convention in 2023. Mamdani, a longtime critic of Israel who has said the nation is engaging in atrocities in the Palestinian territory, indicated he was questioning cooperative programs between the city police and IDF.

Powerful Moment

With the election nearing, Mamdani appears to have won sympathy and support, however, for his response to his opponent's escalating attacks.

The progressive responded to Cuomo’s 9/11 remarks in an emotional video. In it, Mamdani recalled how, when he first campaigned for the legislature, a Muslim uncle advised to him that he did not have to tell people about his religion. It was a lesson, he said, that many Muslim New Yorkers had been taught “again and again”: “That safety could only be found in the shadows of our city. That it is in those hidden spaces alone where followers of Islam could embrace their full identities, and that if we were to step out from those seclusion, then it is in those shadows that we must set aside our beliefs.”

Speaking to the behavior of his opponents, who has alleged Mamd