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New Yorkers will find out the identity of their new city leader this Tuesday, in a race that will determine who governs and defends the nation's largest city at a time when the former president has threatened to send armed forces to the city.

Against that backdrop, New York has experienced a race for mayor that has matched two very different Democratic figures against each other. The contest has become an acrimonious showdown, laced with alleged racial bias and Islamophobia, but it is the ideological divide between the two main candidates that could have major implications for how the party performs in next year's congressional races.

The Progressive Challenger

In the progressive corner is Zohran Mamdani, the young democratic socialist whose meteoric rise and people-powered movement has attracted global notice. Representing the old guard is the former governor, the ex- New York governor now running as an independent – and benefiting from the backing of wealthy contributors and big business.

With days to go, it is the progressive, the former longshot who defeated Cuomo in the Democratic primary who is firmly installed as the frontrunner. Mamdani, who has campaigned on a platform of economic justice and promised to halt rent increases for about two million New Yorkers, has outpaced his rival by significant margins across all surveys taken in the fall, and it is very much the progressive's race to lose.

The Controversial Campaign

Yet, Cuomo, who stepped down as the state's leader in recent years amid accusations of misconduct, has made it clear he will battle to the end, and not necessarily in an above-the-belt fashion. He has trashed Mamdani's goals as unrealistic, and in the final stretch chuckled along as a broadcaster made anti-Muslim comments about Mamdani, who is Muslim. Recently, the independent was strongly criticized as bigoted after posting an artificial intelligence video that included a slew of racist stereotypes and showed his opponent releasing a convicts.

This represents a rather grubby end to an election that could be key to the path that the Democratic party, struggling in its reaction to the former president's authoritarian grabs, takes in the near future.

National Implications

Should Mamdani wins convincingly, the establishment party leaders who have refused to endorse his campaign will be forced to reckon with a platform that has appealed to voters' anger at inequality, inflation and the establishment. It would be hard for Chuck Schumer and Hakeem Jeffries not to embrace at least some of Mamdani's ambitious ideas about economic justice, given the newcomer has generated an excitement within the Democratic ranks perhaps not witnessed since the Vermont senator ran for president eight years ago.

However, should Cuomo, who had been predicted to sail to victory in the June primary, complete a remarkable riches-to-rags-to-riches win, it could cement the party's current model of cautious, uninspiring opposition – a strategy that has angered the party base. A NYC defeat of Mamdani's optimistic platform could persuade party leaders that the best plan is to remain in the political center – even as polls show the present version of the Democratic party is widely disliked nationwide.

Voter Enthusiasm

Voters in New York seem to prefer the progressive agenda. Polls show that Mamdani supporters are far more enthusiastic about their candidate than Cuomo backers, something that has been apparent during the race. Mamdani's snappy videos on digital platforms, his hopeful outlook for the city and his willingness to actually get out and meet people in the city has drawn an army of more than 50,000 supporters, many of them young or new participants.

Personal Attacks

However, the former governor, 67, isn't giving up. And with the risks against him, the former governor has turned to negative campaigning in the final days.

After spending months throwing basically everything at his opponent to see what might stick, the independent has concentrated on targeting Mamdani personally. He has called Mamdani, who was born in Uganda to South Asian heritage, an "radical", and popped up on Fox Business for an interview with Maria Bartiromo, where the candidate claimed the city “will not survive” Mamdani as city leader. It hit bottom recently, when Cuomo laughed along and said “that’s another problem” after a broadcaster said Mamdani would “cheer” another terrorist attack.

Campaign Dynamics

The line of attack mirrors much of what Trump, who has deployed the military reserves to Washington DC and warned to do the same to New York, has said about Mamdani, and maybe that shouldn’t come as a surprise. A group of wealthy residents, including some who contributed to the Republican in the last presidential race, have invested heavily into trying to elect Cuomo elected, as other influential figures have urged Curtis Sliwa to drop out from the contest.

Candidate Backgrounds

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, not many had known him, and in reality, few even paid attention.

Cuomo, by contrast, entered smoothly into the race in this year and became the immediate frontrunner. He was the big beast who seemingly held every edge. The quintessential political insider, he had married a political dynasty member and served in Bill Clinton’s administration. He assumed office as the state's leader in 2011, 17 years after his father, the former governor, left office from the identical role.

The progressive, who was voted in to the New York state assembly in recently, does not have the comparable background. But his dedication to providing free buses and free childcare – along with the rent control promise – present a brighter outlook of the city's direction than Cuomo’s pessimistic predictions about “mayhem” and unfettered crime, and his vow to hire more police officers.

Recent Challenges

Nevertheless, Mamdani has faced difficulties in the final phase, after video surfaced appearing to show him suggesting the New York police department 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 influenced by the Israeli military,” the candidate said in the clip, filmed at a DSA convention in recent years. Mamdani, a longtime critic of the Israeli government who has said the nation is engaging in atrocities in the Palestinian territory, indicated he was questioning joint training exercises between the city police and Israeli forces.

Powerful Moment

With the election nearing, the candidate seems to have gained sympathy and support, however, for his response to Cuomo’s increasing rhetoric.

The progressive responded to the independent's 9/11 remarks in an heartfelt recording. In it, the candidate recalled how, when he first ran for state assembly, a Muslim uncle advised to him that he did not have to tell people about his religion. It was a realization, Mamdani said, that many Muslim New Yorkers had been taught “again and again”: “That 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 full identities, and that if we were to emerge from those shadows, then it is in those shadows that we must set aside our beliefs.”

Speaking to the actions of his opponents, who has claimed Mamd