An Oregon Democratic congressional candidate feared her future in politics was kaput when a video of her as a Manhattan dominatrix popped up online — but she now embraces her raunchy past, she told The Post.
Courtney Casgraux, who wants to represent Portland’s western suburbs, was horrified when a clip of her working at a Midtown BDSM dungeon was anonymously posted to Reddit on Aug. 31.
“[I was] just panicking … Then I was like, ‘Who did this?’ and I just started calling every single person that I pretty much knew from my past … I was like hyperventilating, crying,” the Huntington Beach, Calif., native recalled.
Casgraux, 41, worked as a dominatrix in her 20s and 30s, charging clients $500 per hour.
Years later, while staying with a friend in the Bronx during the pandemic, she returned to the risqué business — this time at Donatella’s Dungeon, a still-operating S&M club on Sixth Avenue and West 39th Street.
Although the Pearl District, Ore., resident never found out who posted the racy footage, she believes the poster was trying to “shame” her.
“To shame me for something that helped create the life that I have today where I have opportunity … made me really mad. Because it felt like an attack on women, not just an attack on me,” said Casgraux, whose advocacy work has included teaching puberty and menstruation courses at an LA Boys and Girls Club, as well as training displaced and trafficked women in technical trades through another LA-based nonprofit.
She now has her sights set on winning the seat held by Democratic Congresswoman Suzanne Bonamici, and has focused her campaign on voting and abortion rights, and reversing the wide decriminalization of drugs in the Beaver state, she said.
The single mother-of-one decided to use her “outing” to “reclaim her sexuality,” creating a Playboy profile to sell sexy pictures of herself for up to $150 each.
Casgraux, who isn’t compensated by Playboy, also posts more weighty content on her account, such as an explanation of how Article 2 of the Constitution grants presidential powers and impeachment, and her views on challenges faced by small American farms.
Her campaign has raised just $757 from 13 donors so far, but Casgraux plans to forge ahead.
“Once [the video] came out and I got the Playboy page, I was like, ‘Oh my God, I feel like I can just be me.’ And I could say the things that I wanna say, and I can be funny and be tongue and cheek with things, and reclaim my sexuality,” Casgraux said.
Although she’s received mostly positive feedback for her unorthodox campaign methods, for Casgraux, it isn’t all about winning the election.
“If I can win, that’s incredible — let’s go to Washington … and we’ll make amazing legislation.
“But there’s no losing if I can make one woman feel like there’s no shame in your past and what you have done…You too can run for Congress,” Casgraux said.