Zohran Mamdani said on Monday that he will continue to work with Morris Katz, keeping the adviser in place despite the backlash tied to Graham Platner’s failed Senate bid. Katz remains one of Mamdani’s top political hands after the criticism sharpened around his role in the Maine race.
“I will continue to work with Morris Katz, he remains a top advisor of mine,” Mamdani said at Mamdani's news conference on Monday. The statement drew a hard line around a consultant whose work in Platner’s Senate bid has become a political liability for some Democrats.
Platner’s Senate bid
Katz was one of the leading political consultants behind Platner’s campaign before it collapsed. Platner withdrew from the race after a rape accusation from an ex-girlfriend, which he denied, and later faced scrutiny over deleted Reddit posts, a Nazi-linked tattoo and alleged mistreatment of women.
The criticism widened after members of the Democratic Socialists of America circulated a letter urging political allies not to work with Katz. The letter described him as one of the chief parties responsible for Platner’s campaign and said he helped recruit Platner, then pushed the bid with slick video production, friendly media placements and political connections.
Katz and Daniel Moraff
A source familiar with the early stages of the Platner campaign said Katz and Daniel Moraff ignored multiple requests from the vetting team to dig deeper into Platner’s past. That source said Katz and Daniel Moraff paid just over $6,000 for a three-day vetting job, a process that would usually take weeks and cost tens of thousands of dollars.
After Platner said he would suspend his candidacy, Katz wrote on X that as soon as the team became aware of the rape allegations against Graham Platner they advised he suspend his campaign. The public split leaves Mamdani standing by a consultant whose work helped deliver his own upset victory against Andrew Cuomo and Curtis Sliwa last year, while critics continue pressing the question of how much of Katz’s role in the failed vetting can be independently verified.
