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New Yorkers will learn who will be their new city leader this election day, in a race that will determine who runs and protects the country's most populous metropolis at a time when Donald Trump has threatened to send armed forces to the urban center.

Against that backdrop, New York has witnessed a mayoral election that has pitted two distinctly opposing Democrats against one another. The contest has turned into an acrimonious face-off, marked by accusations of racism and Islamophobia, but it is the political differences between the two leading candidates that could have major implications for how the Democratic party performs in next year's congressional races.

The Rising Progressive

On the left side is the democratic socialist, the 34-year-old progressive candidate whose meteoric rise and people-powered movement has attracted international attention. On the establishment side is Andrew Cuomo, the ex- Democratic New York governor now running as an independent – and enjoying the support of wealthy contributors and corporations.

With days to go, it is the progressive, the one-time underdog who defeated his opponent in the party primary who is solidly positioned as the leading candidate. Mamdani, who has campaigned on a agenda of affordability and pledged to halt rent increases for about two million New Yorkers, has led his rival by double-digits in every poll taken in the fall, and it is very much the younger man's race to lose.

The Controversial Campaign

Yet, the former governor, 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 manner. He has trashed his opponent's goals as unrealistic, and in the final stretch laughed as a broadcaster made anti-Muslim comments about the candidate, who is Muslim. Two weeks ago, the independent was strongly criticized as racist after posting an artificial intelligence video that featured a series of racist stereotypes and showed his opponent releasing a convicts.

This represents a particularly ugly conclusion to an race that could be critical to the path that the party, struggling in its reaction to the former president's power moves, takes in the near future.

Broader Consequences

If Mamdani wins convincingly, the establishment party leaders who have declined to support his bid will be compelled to address a platform that has resonated with Americans' frustration at economic disparity, soaring price rises and the political elite. It would be difficult for the Senate leader and the House leader not to embrace at least some of Mamdani's progressive proposals about affordability, given the newcomer has created an enthusiasm within the party perhaps not witnessed since the Vermont senator ran for president eight years ago.

However, if the former governor, who had been predicted to win easily in the June primary, complete a remarkable comeback victory, it could cement the party's existing approach of cautious, uninspiring opposition – a strategy that has infuriated grassroots members. A New York defeat of the progressive's progressive, positive message could persuade party leaders that the best plan is to stick to the center – even as surveys show the current iteration of the Democratic party is deeply unpopular nationwide.

Campaign Energy

Voters in the city appear to favor the progressive agenda. Surveys show that Mamdani supporters are far more enthusiastic about their choice than his opponent's supporters, something that has been apparent throughout the campaign. The candidate's engaging content on social media, his hopeful outlook for the city and his readiness to actually venture out and meet people in the metropolis has attracted an force of more than 50,000 volunteers, many of them young or new participants.

Personal Attacks

However, Cuomo, in his late sixties, isn't giving up. And with the stakes stacked against him, the former governor has resorted to negative campaigning in the final days.

After spending months launching various attacks at Mamdani to see what might stick, Cuomo has concentrated on attacking the candidate directly. He has labelled Mamdani, who was born in Uganda to South Asian heritage, an “extremist”, and popped up on Fox Business for an interview with a rightwing host, where the candidate asserted the city “will not survive” his opponent as city leader. It reached a nadir last week, when Cuomo laughed along and said “that’s another problem” after a broadcaster said Mamdani would “cheer” another terrorist attack.

Political Landscape

This strategy echoes much of what the former president, who has sent the military reserves to the capital and threatened to take similar action to New York, has said about the progressive, and perhaps that shouldn’t come as a surprise. A group of billionaire New Yorkers, including some who contributed to Trump in the last presidential race, have pumped millions into trying to elect the independent into office, as other powerful voices have urged the Republican candidate to withdraw from the contest.

Political Histories

As far as the his team, and his wealthy backers, are concerned, it should never have come to this. When Mamdani, one of 150 state legislators, started his campaign for mayor in last year, few had heard of him, and in reality, few even paid attention.

Cuomo, by contrast, entered smoothly into the contest in this year and became the immediate frontrunner. He was the political heavyweight who apparently held all the advantages. The classic establishment figure, he had married a political dynasty member and served in Bill Clinton’s administration. He assumed office as New York governor in 2011, 17 years after his father, the former governor, left office from the same position.

The progressive, who was voted in to the New York state assembly in 2020, does not have the comparable background. But his dedication to providing free buses and affordable child services – along with the freeze-the-rent pledge – present a brighter outlook of the city's direction than his opponent's dire warnings about “mayhem” and unfettered crime, and his promise to hire more police officers.

Campaign Controversies

Still, the candidate has encountered difficulties in the final phase, after footage emerged appearing to show him suggesting the NYPD and the Israel Defense Forces were connected.

“We have to make clear that when the boot of the NYPD is on your throat, it’s been laced by the IDF,” the candidate said in the recording, recorded at a Democratic Socialists of America gathering in 2023. The progressive, a vocal opponent of the Israeli government who has said the nation is committing genocide in the Palestinian territory, indicated he was criticizing cooperative programs between the city police and IDF.

Powerful Moment

As the race closes, the candidate seems to have gained empathy and backing, however, for his reaction to his opponent's increasing rhetoric.

Mamdani responded to the independent's terrorism comments in an emotional video. In it, Mamdani remembered how, when he first ran for the legislature, a Muslim uncle advised 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 taught “again and again”: “That security could only be found in the shadows of our city. That it is in those shadows alone where Muslims could express their full identities, and that if we were to step out from those seclusion, then it is in those silence that we must set aside our beliefs.”

Addressing the behavior of his opponents, who has claimed Mamd