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

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.