Independent New York Congressional candidate Mike Itkis released a sex tape to an adult website to promote his campaign and his stance on legalizing prostitution.
Itkis, who is running against Democratic incumbent Jerry Nadler and Republican challenger Mike Zubluskas, appears to have released the video on adult website Pornhub several months ago. The video has since surfaced after City and State New York journalist Jeff Coltin reported on the video released by the congressional candidate Friday.
The Independent candidate brands himself as "a liberal with drastically different views, not one that marches in lockstep with the Democratic party," and advocates for the removal of government involvement in sexual activity including prostitution between consenting adults, according to his website.
The video titled "Bucket List Bonanza" features two separate clips of Itkis and adult performer Nicole Sage, who also directed the video, engaging in sexual activity. The first clip appears to have been filmed in July 2021 while the second clip reads "October 2021."
"In a grunt for attention, third-party Congressional candidate #NY12 Mike Itkis has released a sex tape on Pornhub to highlight his sex positive campaign platform," Coltin said about the video.
"Jeff, thank you for writing the story," Itkis said in reply to Coltin's article. "I would like to reiterate that we have a lot of contradictory laws and court decisions on books dealing with human sexuality. The point of the video was to explore some of these issues."
The video begins with Sage introducing herself and stating she is about to consensually engage in sexual activity noting she is not being forced to participate nor is she under the influence of any substance. Itkis appears behind Sage as she announces they have both "seen each other's tests," presumably referring to an STD test, and reiterates the two are consensually agreeing to engage in sexual activity without prophylactic protection, Sage notes as the two proceed.
The second clip features Itkis behind Sage as she similarly states she has agreed to have the clip posted online before the two engage in sexual activity.
"I am a liberal independent candidate for the U.S. House of Representatives in the 2022 election. NY 12th Congressional District," reads Itkis' profile page on the adult website.
Itkis lists six political talking points in a post on his adult website profile covering a range of topics surrounding sexual intercourse including premarital sex, consent and the government's role in defining the term, the adult industry, the use of prophylactic safety precautions, and abortion access.
"The government cannot require this level of effort to achieve consent for all sexual activity without massive infringement on citizens' privacy," reads one talking point appearing to criticize rhetoric against implied consent regarding sexual activity. "On the other hand, consent requirements for commercial transactions are both reasonable and feasible."
Itkis insisted he is not an exhibitionist and claimed the video was his first time engaging in sexual activity on camera.
"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,” Itkis told City & State New York. “I’m very much 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.”
