New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani has announced that he will continue to work with Morris Katz, a political consultant who was heavily criticized for his role in a failed Senate bid.
Mamdani made the statement at a news conference on Monday, where he defended Katz as a top advisor and expressed his continued support for the consultant.
Many in the Democratic Party have criticized Katz for his handling of the failed Senate bid, with some calling for him to be blacklisted from future political operations.
Katz was accused of failing to do due diligence on the Senate candidate, Graham Platner, who was accused of rape and had a history of controversy.
Katz and his consulting partner, Daniel Moraff, reportedly ignored warnings from their own vetting team to dig deeper into Platner's past and paid only $6,000 for a three-day vetting job.
Platner's campaign was marred by controversy, including allegations of rape, deleted Reddit posts, a Nazi-linked tattoo, and mistreatment of women.
The Democratic Socialists of America circulated a letter urging their allies not to work with Katz, citing his role in Platner's campaign as a major contributor to its failure.
Katz has denied some of the allegations against him, including claims that he pitched Platner as a potential successor to Senator Bernie Sanders and a future presidential contender.
The controversy surrounding Katz has also raised questions about his authorship of a puberty book for children, which included graphic content and raised concerns about his character.
Katz has previously defended his book as a joke, but critics have condemned his remarks as disturbing and inappropriate.
The mayor's office did not respond to a request for comment on the matter.
