A New York state Senate race that features a democratic socialist cut from the same cloth as Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has become the most entertaining political race in the country.

Julia Salazar began her campaign claiming to be a Colombian immigrant of working-class origins, a Jew who supports abortion rights, a graduate of Columbia University, a pro-choice advocate, and a supporter of a Palestinian state.

The reality is slightly different.

New York Daily News:

Salazar's campaign materials had implied she graduated from Columbia University, but when questioned by the New York Times, she said she had completed her coursework but never graduated.

During her time at Columbia, Salazar – now running as a progressive Democrat of Jewish faith who supports abortion rights and the people of Palestine – was a Christian right-to-life activist who supported Israel.  While she had campaigned as a Colombian immigrant, she was born in the United States to an American mother and Colombian father.  Her statements about a working class upbringing have also been called into question by statements from her brother and mother who said the family did not struggle financially.

In fact, the family owned a home next door to Mets legend Keith Hernandez – and Salazar was embroiled in a bizarre legal battle with the ballplayer and his ex-wife that included a claim of an affair, which Salazar has denied, and a libel lawsuit involving accusations of drug use, bank theft and pilfered Pottery Barn vouchers.

One leftist political party has withdrawn its support of Salazar, citing her lying about her academic record.  The Citizens Union Party pulled its endorsement:

"Citizens Union is hereby rescinding the preference it expressed for Julia Salazar in the Democratic Primary for New York State Senate District 18," Randy Mastro, the chair of the group, said in a statement.  "Salazar recently admitted that the information she originally provided to Citizens Union about her academic credentials was not correct, so Citizens Union has decided to express no preference in this race."

Salazar's response is a classic:

A campaign spokesman called it an "error in her endorsement application."

"Julia regrets that an error in her endorsement application led to Citizens Union rescinding its endorsement, but remains committed to working with Citizens Union and others opposed to Albany corruption if elected to take money out of politics and clean up Albany," he said.

I've heard a lot of excuses from politicians for lying, but that one takes the prize.

Salazar is hardly finished.  She's attempting to latch on to the #MeToo movement by claiming she was sexually assaulted by an Israeli official.

Jezebel:

New York State Senate candidate Julia Salazar has accused David Keyes, the spokesperson to foreign media for the Prime Minister of Israel, of sexual assault.  But her reasons for coming forward now, she tells Jezebel, weren't really on her own terms.

Salazar first posted the allegations on Twitter, writing, "I've been informed that a story is about to run which identifies me as a victim of sexual assault.  Before this runs, I want to come forward and confirm that I was a victim of sexual assault by David Keyes – the Prime Minister of Israel's spokesperson to foreign media."  Salazar continued: "This story appears to be an effort to cast doubt upon my, and other women's, accusations against Keyes."

Multiple attempts by Jezebel to contact Keyes were unsuccessful at press time; we will update this post if we hear back.  He commented on the allegations to Haaretz, saying, "This false accusation is made by someone who has proven to be repeatedly dishonest about her own life.  This is yet another example of her dishonesty."

OK – "he said, she said," right?  Not exactly.  Apparently, Salazar first posted the accusation on Facebook back in 2016 and then quickly deleted the post after the Times of Israel picked up the story.  It gets even more bizarre.  The Daily Caller went with the story after some weird reactions from the candidate:

"We asked for confirmation, as reporters from other outlets have in the past, and received confirmation.  We never received any request to not print her identity, and indeed did not before she issued a public statement.  In past stories on the sensitive issue of sexual assault of both public and private individuals, we have declined to print without permission from the alleged victim."  But the email, published by the Daily Caller in a story on its website, paints a contrary account.

"I have sources telling me Julia was behind the sexual misconduct accusations lobbied against David Keyes in 2016.  She later deleted the social media posts with the accusations," Simonson wrote to Salazar's campaign in his request for comment.  "A description of the accuser in a Times of Israel piece also perfectly matches Julia.  Why did she delete these accusations?  Does she still stand by them?  My deadline is in one hour."

I’m about to be outed as a survivor of sexual assault. Here is what I have to say about that: pic.twitter.com/WFjNhzBee8

— Julia Salazar for State Senate (@SalazarSenate18) September 11, 2018

As Keyes pointed out, the accusation comes from someone "who has proven to be repeatedly dishonest about her own life."  Enough said.

This doesn't mean the sexual assault incident by Keyes (described in detail by Jezebel) didn't happen.  It means that Salazar has zero credibility and any accusations will have to be backed up by more than just her word.

Salazar is running against a 16-year incumbent whom she accuses of working with Republicans too much in Albany.  That may be so, and her campaign has certainly energized the far left in her district.  But given the string of lies she has told about her past, can even rabid leftists put aside the serial lies and exaggerations to vote for her?

Don't be surprised if she pulls the upset.