Sunday, October 16, 2022

New York Candidate for Congress Releases Sex Tape He Says Shows His ‘Sex Positive Approach'

Mike Itkis is running a long shot bid to unseat political powerhouse Rep. Jerry Nadler on a platform that includes sex positivity as one of his keystone issues, and says he supports legalizing sex work

Published October 14, 2022


As the 2022 election season nears its conclusion, one Manhattan candidate is hoping his latest raunchy stunt will help him come out on top — or at least get his name out there.

Mike Itkis is running in New York's 12th district, where he is mounting a long shot bid to unseat Rep. Jerry Nadler, the longtime Democrat who won a June primary over fellow NYC political bastion Carolyn Maloney. Itkis, an independent, is running on a platform that includes sex positivity as one of his keystone issues, and supports legalizing sex work.

To prove he's more than just talk, Itkis was willing to bare all — and no, not in an interview. The candidate filmed and released a sex tape he made with an adult film star in hopes of pumping up support and getting his name into the race.

The cybersecurity specialist and major in the U.S. Army Reserves called his video posted to a pornographic website a "conversation piece," in an interview with City & State.

"If I would just talk about it, it wouldn’t demonstrate my commitment to the issue. And the fact I actually did it was a huge learning experience, and it actually influenced items on my platform," he told the outlet.

On his campaign website, Itkis describes himself as a "liberal independent candidate" who is "not married. No kids. Not celibate. Atheist."

Aside from cybersecurity, sex positivity appears to be one of his top issues he addresses on his website, though he doesn't go into great detail about some of his positions. A pro-choice candidate, his website says he would like to "redefine abortion debate as a right to unplanned sex."

Congressional Candidate Stars in Porn Video to Show He’s ‘Sex Positive’



By BRITTANY BERNSTEIN
October 15, 2022 9:25 AM

A “liberal independent” congressional candidate in New York recently starred in a porn video to demonstrate his “commitment” to sex positivity.

Mike Itkis, who is running against Representative Jerrold Nadler (D., N.Y.), uploaded the 13-minute video, “Bucket List Bonanza,” to Pornhub over the summer.

He told City & State he made the sex tape with porn performer Nicole Sage in 2021 as a “conversation piece.”

“If I would just talk about it, it wouldn’t demonstrate my commitment to the issue,” he told the outlet. “And the fact I actually did it was a huge learning experience, and it actually influenced items on my platform.”

He said he had never had sex on camera before making the video and described himself as an introvert.

“I’m kind of a nerd who doesn’t like to be the center of attention if I can avoid it. But I thought the issues I’m trying to address are so important . . . I wanted to have my issues talked about in some way,” said Itkis, who is running in New York’s newly redrawn 12th Congressional District.

Itkis, a registered Democrat whose bio describes him as “Not married. No kids. Not celibate. Atheist,” said in a statement that making the sex tape was “one of the most meaningful experiences of my life.”

“One of my three primary goals is to advance sex positivity, including several proposals for legislation designed to explicitly protect sexual rights by ending government involvement in marriage, the right to not become a parent in case of pregnancy, a right for women to terminate an abortion, decriminalization of sex between consenting adults, a nation-wide definition of consent, and legalization of sex work,” Itkis said.

He writes on his website that men should not be required to support biological children without prior agreement and that he plans to work to “redefine [the] abortion debate as a right to unplanned sex.”

Itkis, an Army cyber operations officer, said he decided to run for office because “our freedom of expression is under threat from all ends of the political spectrum.”

“The far right, led by the Supreme Court, has a negative view of sexual rights, pursuing the position that sex should only happen between a married man and woman, clearly leaving out multiple demographics such as single individuals, and people whom the ‘traditional’ marriage arrangement doesn’t work,” he said. “With this worldview in mind, modern conservatives are clearly opposed to sexually-explicit speech as well as research that doesn’t comply with their views.”

He added: “Unfortunately, many Democrats have also opposed freedom of speech, contributing to ‘cancel culture’ and political correctness. Being born in the Soviet Union, I’m well aware of the consequences for people who deviate from the party line, and am strongly opposed to restrictions on speech because someone may be offended.”

Mike Zumbluskas, the Republican candidate running in NY-12, said of the sex tape stunt: “You gotta do what you gotta do.”

“The media ignores everybody that’s not a Democrat in the city,” he told City & State.

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