'Sex Positive' UWS Congressional Candidate Stars In Porn Movie

UPPER WEST SIDE, NY — A little-known third-party Congressional candidate starred in a porn movie to highlight his "sex positive" platform in the race to defeat Rep. Jerry Nadler this November.

Mike Itkis — running as a massive underdog for the 12th Congressional District — posted a 13-minute video titled "Bucket List Bonanza" to a popular porn website where he joins adult movie star Nicole Sage in a scene.

"If I would just talk about it, it wouldn't demonstrate my commitment to the issue," Itkis told City & State, which was the first publication to report the story. "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.”

To beat the incumbent Nadler — who has represented the Upper West Side since 1992, in the Nov. 8 election, Itkis will need to curry favor with a slew of voters from the Upper West Side, Upper East Side, and Midtown.

When reached for comment, Itkis directed Patch to his publicists, who then directed Patch to an op-ed by Itkis titled "Reform of Sexual Behavior Legislation is Vital to our Future."

"One of the most meaningful experiences of my life was the creation of an adult video currently available on the internet," Itkis writes. "The video was so central to my campaign that I did not start the registration process until the video became publicly available."

"Creating the video significantly influenced my political platform, leading me to create the principles of sex work legalization, to speak about the complexities of consent, and the pros and cons of privacy considerations," he added.

Itkis, who is an Army cyber security officer, specifies a "Sex Positive Approach" as one of his platform's three main issues on his campaign website.

His stances within the topic include opposing the "conservative idea" that sex should only happen between a man and a woman who are married, supporting abortion rights, and decriminalizing and legalizing sex work.

Itkis also writes that "men should should not be required to support biological children without prior agreement."

Itkis describes himself in his candidate biography as, "Not married. No kids. Not celibate. Atheist."

You can check out Itkis' full sex positive approach package on his website.

Itkis' sex tape certainly isn't the first time a candidate's sex life has made its way into an Upper West Side election.

In June of 2021, City Council candidate Zack Weiner received praise for how he handled the aftermath of a video of himself enjoying a session with a dominatrix, which was leaked to the New York Post.