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Residents of the Big Apple will find out the identity of their next mayor this Tuesday, in a contest that will determine who runs and protects the nation's largest city at a moment when Donald Trump has vowed to deploy armed forces to the urban center.

Against that backdrop, New York has experienced a race for mayor that has pitted two distinctly opposing Democrats against one another. The contest has turned into an acrimonious showdown, laced with alleged racism and anti-Muslim sentiment, but it is the political differences between the two main contenders that could have major implications for how the Democratic party fares in next year's midterm elections.

The Progressive Challenger

In the progressive corner is Zohran Mamdani, the 34-year-old progressive candidate whose rapid ascent and grassroots campaign has brought global notice. Representing the old guard is Andrew Cuomo, the former Democratic New York governor now campaigning independently – and benefiting from the support of wealthy contributors and corporations.

With days to go, it is Mamdani, the former longshot who beat his opponent in the party primary who is firmly installed as the leading candidate. Mamdani, who has run on a platform of economic justice and promised to freeze rent for about two million New Yorkers, has led Cuomo by significant margins in every poll taken in October, and it is very much the progressive's race to lose.

A Bitter Contest

Yet, Cuomo, who resigned as the state's leader in recent years amid allegations of sexual harassment, has made it clear he will battle to the end, and not necessarily in an fair manner. He has trashed his opponent's objectives 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 featured a slew of racial caricatures and showed Mamdani freeing a convicts.

It's been a particularly ugly conclusion to an race that could be key to the path that the Democratic party, struggling in its response to Trump's authoritarian grabs, takes in the near future.

National Implications

Should Mamdani wins convincingly, the party establishment who have refused to endorse his bid will be forced to reckon with a platform that has appealed to voters' anger at inequality, soaring price rises and the political elite. It would be difficult for Chuck Schumer and the House leader not to adopt at least some of the candidate's progressive proposals about affordability, given the newcomer has generated an excitement within the Democratic ranks perhaps not seen since Bernie Sanders ran for president in 2016.

However, should Cuomo, who had been expected to sail to victory in the Democratic primary, complete a remarkable riches-to-rags-to-riches win, it could reinforce national Democrats' existing approach of cautious, lackluster resistance – a tactic that has angered the party base. A New York rejection of the progressive's progressive, positive message could persuade Schumer and Jeffries 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.

Voter Enthusiasm

Voters in New York appear to favor the progressive agenda. Polls show that Mamdani supporters are far more enthusiastic about their choice than Cuomo backers, something that has been evident throughout the campaign. Mamdani's engaging content on social media, his optimistic vision for New York and his readiness to actually venture out and meet people in the metropolis has drawn an army of more than 50,000 supporters, many of them youth or new participants.

Personal Attacks

Yet, the former governor, in his late sixties, isn't giving up. And with the stakes against him, the former governor has resorted to ugly messaging in the final days.

After spending months launching various attacks at Mamdani to see what might resonate, Cuomo has narrowed his focus on attacking the candidate personally. He has called Mamdani, who was of Ugandan origin to South Asian heritage, an "radical", and popped up on conservative media for an discussion with a rightwing host, where Cuomo claimed New York “will not survive” Mamdani as mayor. It reached a nadir last week, when Cuomo chuckled and said “that’s another problem” after a radio host said the candidate would “cheer” another 9/11-style incident.

Campaign Dynamics

The line of attack echoes much of what Trump, who has deployed the national guard to the capital and warned to take similar action to NYC, has said about the progressive, and maybe that shouldn’t come as a surprise. A group of wealthy residents, including some who contributed to Trump in the last presidential race, have pumped millions into trying to get the independent into office, as other influential figures have pressured the Republican candidate to drop out from the contest.

Political Histories

As far as the Cuomo camp, and his billionaire supporters, are worried, it should never have come to this. When Mamdani, one of 150 New York state assembly members, launched his mayoral bid in last year, few had heard of him, and in reality, few even noticed.

The former governor, by comparison, entered smoothly into the race in this year and became the instant favorite. He was the big beast who seemingly held every edge. The quintessential political insider, he had married a political dynasty member and worked in a Democratic presidency. He assumed office as New York governor in 2011, 17 years after his father, Mario Cuomo, left office from the same position.

The progressive, who was voted in to the state legislature in recently, does not have the comparable background. But his commitment to providing free buses and affordable child services – along with the freeze-the-rent pledge – offer a more positive vision of the future than his opponent's dire warnings about “mayhem” and unfettered crime, and his vow to increase police presence.

Campaign Controversies

Nevertheless, the candidate has encountered some challenges in the final phase, after video surfaced appearing to show him implying the NYPD and the Israel Defense Forces were connected.

“We have to make clear that when the boot of the NYPD is on your neck, it’s been laced by the Israeli military,” Mamdani said in the recording, filmed at a Democratic Socialists of America convention in recent years. Mamdani, a longtime critic of the Israeli government who has said the country is committing genocide in Gaza, indicated he was questioning cooperative programs between the city police and IDF.

Emotional Response

With the election nearing, the candidate appears to have won 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, the candidate remembered how, when he first campaigned for state assembly, a Muslim uncle advised to him that he did not have to tell people about his Muslim faith. It was a lesson, he said, that many local Muslims had been told “again and again”: “That security could only be found in the shadows 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 step out from those shadows, then it is in those silence that we must leave our faith.”

Addressing the behavior of Cuomo and Sliwa, who has alleged Mamd