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Residents of the Big Apple will discover who will be their new city leader this Tuesday, in a race that will determine who governs and protects the nation's largest city at a time when the former president has vowed to send armed forces to the urban center.

Against that backdrop, New York has experienced a mayoral election that has matched two distinctly opposing Democratic figures against one another. The contest has turned into an acrimonious showdown, laced with accusations of racial bias and Islamophobia, but it is the ideological divide between the two main candidates that could have significant consequences for how the Democratic party fares in next year's congressional races.

The Progressive Challenger

On the left side is Zohran Mamdani, the 34-year-old progressive candidate whose meteoric rise and grassroots campaign has attracted international attention. Representing the old guard is the former governor, the ex- New York governor now campaigning independently – and enjoying the support of ultra-rich donors and corporations.

With days to go, it is Mamdani, the former longshot who defeated Cuomo in the party primary who is firmly installed as the frontrunner. Mamdani, who has run on a platform of affordability and pledged to freeze rent for about 2 million New Yorkers, has outpaced Cuomo by significant margins across all surveys conducted in October, and it is very much the younger man's election to lose.

The Controversial Campaign

Yet, Cuomo, who stepped down as governor in recent years amid accusations of misconduct, has stated clearly he will battle to the end, and not necessarily in an fair fashion. He has trashed his opponent's goals as unrealistic, and in the final stretch chuckled along as a broadcaster made Islamophobic remarks about Mamdani, who is a Muslim. Two weeks ago, Cuomo was widely condemned as racist after sharing an artificial intelligence video that included a series of racial caricatures and showed Mamdani releasing a group of criminals.

It's been a rather grubby conclusion to an race that could be critical to the direction that the party, struggling in its response to the former president's power moves, takes in the coming years.

Broader Consequences

If the progressive 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 resonated with Americans' anger at economic disparity, soaring price rises and the establishment. It would be difficult for the Senate leader and the House leader not to embrace at least a portion of the candidate's ambitious ideas about economic justice, given the newcomer has generated an excitement within the Democratic ranks arguably not witnessed since the Vermont senator ran for president eight years ago.

However, if Cuomo, who had been expected to win easily in the Democratic primary, achieve a remarkable riches-to-rags-to-riches win, it could cement national Democrats' existing approach of cautious, uninspiring opposition – a strategy that has infuriated grassroots members. A NYC defeat of the progressive's progressive, positive message could persuade Schumer and Jeffries that the best plan is to stick to the political center – even as polls show the present version of the party is widely disliked across the country.

Voter Enthusiasm

Residents of New York seem to prefer the progressive agenda. Surveys show that Mamdani supporters are far more enthusiastic about their candidate than his opponent's supporters, something that has been apparent during the race. The candidate's engaging content on digital platforms, his optimistic vision for New York and his willingness to actually venture out and connect with voters in the city has attracted an force of over fifty thousand volunteers, many of them youth or new participants.

Personal Attacks

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

Following extensive throwing basically everything at his opponent to see what might stick, Cuomo has concentrated on targeting Mamdani directly. He has called Mamdani, who was of Ugandan origin to South Asian heritage, an “extremist”, and popped up on conservative media for an discussion with a rightwing host, where the candidate claimed the city “will not survive” his opponent as mayor. It reached a nadir last week, when the former governor chuckled and said “that’s another problem” after a broadcaster said Mamdani would “cheer” another terrorist attack.

Political Landscape

The line of attack echoes much of what Trump, who has sent the military reserves to the capital and warned to take similar action to New York, has said about Mamdani, and maybe that is expected. 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 the independent into office, as other powerful voices have pressured Curtis Sliwa to drop out from the race.

Candidate Backgrounds

For the his team, and his billionaire supporters, are worried, it should not have reached to this. When Mamdani, one of one hundred fifty state legislators, started his campaign for mayor in last year, not many had heard of him, and in truth, barely anyone even noticed.

Cuomo, by contrast, eased his way into the contest in this year and became the immediate frontrunner. He was the big beast who apparently held all the advantages. The classic establishment figure, he had wed a Kennedy and worked in Bill Clinton’s administration. He became New York governor in 2011, seventeen years after his parent, the former governor, stepped down from the same position.

Mamdani, who was elected to the state legislature in 2020, does not have the same political heritage. But his commitment to providing free buses and free childcare – along with the rent control promise – present a brighter outlook of the future than his opponent's pessimistic predictions about “mayhem” and rising criminal activity, and his vow to increase police presence.

Recent Challenges

Nevertheless, the candidate has faced some challenges in recent days, after footage surfaced appearing to show 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 throat, it’s been influenced by the IDF,” the candidate said in the recording, filmed at a Democratic Socialists of America gathering in 2023. Mamdani, a longtime critic of the Israeli government who has said the nation is engaging in atrocities in the Palestinian territory, suggested he was criticizing cooperative programs between the city police and Israeli forces.

Powerful Moment

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

The progressive addressed the independent's terrorism comments in an emotional video. In it, the candidate remembered how, when he first ran for state assembly, a family member suggested to him that he did not have to tell people about his Muslim faith. It was a lesson, Mamdani said, that many Muslim New Yorkers had been told “again and again”: “That security could only be found in the shadows of our community. That it is in those shadows alone where Muslims could embrace their true selves, and that if we were to emerge from those shadows, then it is in those shadows that we must set aside our beliefs.”

Addressing the actions of his opponents, who has alleged Mamd