Just like magic, Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney can disappear and reappear again–at least on campaign mailings.
When Assemblyman Micah Kellner, now running for an Upper East Side City Council seat, confessed last month to inappropriate conduct with a former staffer years ago, many of his endorsers bailed. His campaign then awkwardly removed the supporters’ names, including Ms. Maloney’s, by covering them with white stickers. But now she’s back.
“I believe Micah Kellner will work for the right policies for New York and work effectively to put these policies into place,” Ms. Maloney gushes in a new Kellner campaign mailer. On the back, Mr. Kellner and Ms. Maloney are pictured together as the Assemblyman gushes about all he has learned from the Congresswoman.
Although Ms. Maloney’s office told Politicker she stood by her endorsement at the time her name was initially removed from the mailers, she condemned Mr. Kelner’s behavior as “highly inappropriate” and declined to comment further.
Mr. Kellner has admitted to and apologized for his unwanted online advances on the former female staffer, whose complaints were reportedly never passed on to the appropriate authorities. Since then, reports have also surfaced that Mr. Kellner, who is openly bisexual, made inappropriate advances on a male staffer. Neither Mr. Kellner nor Ms. Maloney immediately returned requests for comment.
Ms. Maloney is one of the few uptown elected officials who has stuck with Mr. Kellner despite the allegations. The district’s current councilwoman, Jessica Lappin, Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer and several other state senators have all withdrawn their support.
Mr. Kellner is facing attorney Ben Kallos and community activist Ed Hartzog in the Sept. 10 primary.
View the full mailer below:
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