A Manhattan congressional candidate has released an online pornographic video starring himself in a bid to highlight his "sex positive" political platform.
Third-party candidate Mike Itkis — who is up against Democratic Rep. Jerry Nadler in New York's 12th District — posted the steamy, 13-minute sex tape with adult movie star Nicole Sage on adult website PornHub.
Bucket List Bonanza
Congressional candidates usually have teams that work around the clock to prevent such tapes from being made public; but in this case, Itkis said he put the video out to prove that he's truly excited about legalizing sex work.
"If I would just talk about it, it wouldn't demonstrate my commitment to the issue," he told City & State. "And the fact I actually did it was a huge learning experience, and it actually influenced items on my platform."
He said he posted the video, titled "Bucket List Bonanza," to the pornographic website as "a conversation piece."
The footage of him making having sex with Sage — who bills herself as "a slutty girl from New Mexico" — was his first time having sex on camera, he said.
"I'm very much an introvert," he said. "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," he said.
Itkis Wants to End Adultery Laws and Decriminalize Sex Work
Itkis' campaign page states his background as "Not married. No kids. Not celibate. Atheist" and says he is dedicated to making sexual rights explicit by "ending adultery laws" and "decriminalizing and legalizing sex work."
He also appears to target child support payments, writing that "men should not be required to support biological children without prior agreement."
The Nadler campaign declined to comment to City & State on the sizzling sex tape. But Itkis' Republican opponent said he understood the urge to seek attention amid a hot political race.
"You gotta do what you gotta do," says Nadler's Republican opponent, Mike Zumbluskas. "The media ignores everybody that's not a Democrat in the city.
Twitter Reactions
Twitter users had some amusing reactions to Itkis' bold move.
"I think this may be the first time a candidate has leaked a sex tape with the hope of it helping his campaign," tweeted writer Parker Molloy.
"Anthony Weiner walked so Mike Itkis could run," quipped writer Timothy Kudo.
"If Mike Itkis wanted to start an only fans, he should've just said that," joked another user.
