Photo shows U.S. Rep. Mike Lawler wearing blackface at college Halloween party in 2006

Associated Press

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — U.S. Rep. Mike Lawler said he was sorry after the New York Times obtained photos of him wearing blackface about two decades ago at a college Halloween costume party where he dressed as Michael Jackson. The images emerged Thursday as Lawler, a first-term Republican, is locked in a competitive reelection bid for his congressional seat in New York’s Hudson Valley. In a statement provided to The Associated Press, Lawler described himself as a Jackson super fan who was attempting to pay homage to the pop star. Blackface minstrelsy took hold in New York City in the 1830s and became popular among post-Civil War whites, though it was regarded as offensive from the beginning of its use.