Gothamist
A non-profit newsroom, powered by WNYC.
Gothamist
Listen Live
News
Mayor Mamdani sticks with adviser Morris Katz after implosion of Platner campaign
By
Brigid Bergin
Published Jul 13, 2026
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
Never miss a story
Email address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .
David Dee Delgado/Getty Images
By
Brigid Bergin
Published Jul 13, 2026
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
We rely on your support to make local news available to all
Make your contribution now and help Gothamist thrive in 2026. Donate today
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Mayor Zohran Mamdani is standing by his top political adviser, Morris Katz, who is facing widespread criticism for his role in Democrat Graham Platner’s scandal-ridden campaign for U.S. Senate in Maine.
“ I will continue to work with Morris Katz. He remains a top advisor of mine,” Mamdani said Monday.
Mamdani’s declaration comes after The Intercept reported that members of the Democratic Socialists of America were circulating a letter calling on the mayor to cut ties with Katz and his political consulting firm, The Fight Agency, because of his role on Platner’s campaign leadership team.
Platner, an oyster farmer and combat veteran, suspended his Senate bid on Friday, four days after Politico reported that he allegedly raped a woman he once dated. Platner has denied the woman’s account.
Katz, 27, advised the Platner campaign and crafted videos that helped the candidate cultivate his message aimed at working-class voters. Katz was also a staunch defender of Platner’s amid earlier controversies, mixing it up on cable news and social media.
Those dynamics changed last week as a growing list of Platner’s supporters, including Mamdani, called on him to exit the race. On Thursday, Katz issued a statement on X, joining those who said Platner should end his campaign.
“As soon as the team became aware of the rape allegations against Graham Platner, we advised he suspend his candidacy, and in the following days worked to wind down the campaign,” Katz wrote. “Like so many of his supporters, I’m deeply disappointed.”
Platner’s decision to withdraw comes after his campaign had weathered a series of controversies, including a tattoo on his chest that resembled a Nazi symbol, a series of since-deleted Reddit posts that were critical of police officers and rural America, and reports he sent sexually explicit messages to other women while married.
Katz declined to make any additional comment, citing his statement last week on X.
The young political consultant played a critical role in helping Mamdani create his singular digital campaign and online strategy focused on energizing younger voters who are disaffected from the mainstream Democratic Party.
He remains one of Mamdani’s closest political advisers. Katz has also advised other democratic socialist and progressive candidates, including Claire Valdez and Brad Lander, who both won their congressional primaries last month.
Prior to Platner’s downfall, his campaign challenging Republican U.S. Sen. Susan Collins was being eyed across the country as a roadmap for how Democrats could inspire voters in the Trump era.
Tagged
Politics
new york city
Brigid Bergin
Brigid Bergin is an award-winning senior reporter on the People and Power desk. She is fiercely committed to telling stories that help people engage and support democracy. In 2022, she hosted a live, ten-week call-in politics show ahead of the midterm elections called The People's Guide to Power. Brigid's reporting in 2017 included some of the first coverage of a political newcomer now known as AOC. In 2016, she broke the news of a voter purge in Brooklyn just days before New York’s presidential primary, triggering city, state and federal investigations. Brigid also guest hosts The Brian Lehrer Show and All Of It. She graduated from the University at Albany and the CUNY Newmark School of Journalism. Got a tip? Email [email protected] or Signal 917-723-4719.
Read more
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
MORE news
Central Park birders, others remember 63-year-old woman killed in park
People who said they knew her described her as an artist and a familiar presence in the Ramble.
By
Charles Lane
Published Sep 28, 2026 at 7:04 p.m. ET
Dump truck driver hits and kills cyclist on 34th Street in Midtown, NYPD says
It's the latest in a string of hit-and-run deaths in the city in recent months.
By
Liam Quigley
News
Dump truck driver hits and kills cyclist on 34th Street in Midtown, NYPD says
It's the latest in a string of hit-and-run deaths in the city in recent months.
By
Liam Quigley
New ingredient mandated for Latin American kitchen, restaurant plates in NJ
By
Arya Sundaram
A Brooklyn jail cell filled with smoke. The emergency button failed, a lawyer said.
By
Samantha Max
Crews launch tunnel machines to dig first new Hudson River rail tunnels since 1910
By
Michael Sol Warren
Never miss a story
Catch up on the most important headlines with a roundup of essential NYC stories, delivered to your inbox daily.
Sign upEmail address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .