Candidate Profile: Newcomer Gallant seeks to unseat Rep. Nick LaLota

Political newcomer Chris Gallant knows what it means to serve his country.

Whether he can translate that experience into effective representation for East End voters is the challenge facing the Democrat as he tries to unseat Republican incumbent Rep. Nick LaLota next month in New York’s 1st Congressional District.

The 37-year-old Army National Guard pilot and Amityville resident pointed to the growing affordability crisis as the “No. 1 key priority” of his campaign. The issue hits close to home. He cited the difficulty some of his nine nieces and nephews face in moving out on their own, and said his mother left Long Island after finding a two-bedroom rental for $4,500 a month. 

“Some of them are trying to leave the nest, so to speak, and that job is almost impossible,” he said of his nieces and nephews. “Even my mom, most recently — she’s in her mid- to late-70s — she just got priced off Long Island because it’s too expensive: $4,500 for a two-bedroom.”

She recently had a home built in North Carolina for about half the cost, he added.

Mr. Gallant said he would favor adapting underused buildings for housing rather than clearing more trees or farmland. He cited a former bank in Southold as one possible site but did not name other locations. He also said housing plans should include single-family homes, not just apartments, and called for action against corporate price gouging.

He also said he recently met with the Suffolk County Water Authority’s director for about an hour to learn more about local aquifers and water testing. Federal funding, he added, could help expand access to public water as the authority pursues a North Fork pipeline, but did not identify a specific project.

Government corruption is another top concern. Mr. Gallant proposed regular town halls and direct communication with constituents as ways to hold elected officials accountable. He also said he would work across party lines.

“At the end of the day, we’re all Americans first,” he said. “We need to start building bridges and not walls. In the military and in the fire departments, they are both heavily Republican. But I’m often told I would be the first Democrat they ever voted for. I feel I can do that on a smaller scale across the district.”

On immigration enforcement, Mr. Gallant called for more training, oversight and guardrails on federal agents’ actions. He described the administration’s approach as trying to “kill a mosquito with a bazooka.” 

“We watched an agency with lack of training, almost zero oversight, and no accountability enter into our streets and just do whatever the hell they please,” he said.

He noted that immigration was not a new problem and called for a clear path to citizenship or a green card. “A lot of the people that do come here looking for a better life, they want to contribute to society,” he said. “We should give them the option and the ability to do just that.”

Asked about OLA of Eastern Long Island’s proposed public-safety policy, Mr. Gallant said he had not read it in detail. He criticized Mr. LaLota’s position that he would not support future federal Community Project Funding requests from municipalities that adopt policies the congressman says deliberately obstruct cooperation with federal authorities. The federal program is separate from the East End’s Community Preservation Fund.

“If you are threatening your constituents by withholding anything that is going to benefit them because you’re pissed off about something that you can’t get on the table with the people you’re supposed to work with, then you’re wrong and you should probably quit your job,” Mr. Gallant said. “We should never hold hostage the people that we’re supposed to be representing.”

Mr. Gallant said he joined the Army National Guard at 17 and deployed to Kuwait in 2012 as an air traffic controller. He later became a Black Hawk pilot and deployed again in 2022. During the COVID-19 pandemic, he worked as a safety officer at the Javits Center while serving in the Guard and awaiting Black Hawk flight training, according to the Army. 

“It was probably the first moment in my life where I realized I can actually make effective change,” he said of his work at the Javits Center.

He has also worked as an FAA air traffic controller, served as a union leader and volunteered with the Copiague Fire Department. He said he decided to run after watching Congress fail to hold the administration accountable.

“It was time to change the uniform and serve my country in a different way,” he said.

Mr. Gallant, who is gay, said he and his fiancé plan to move to St. James whether or not he wins. If elected, he estimated the move could take six months to a year. Neither candidate currently lives in the district. 

He acknowledged declining debates with Mr. LaLota, saying he prefers door-knocking and town halls to a one-on-one forum he called “political theater.” He said more than 100 people attended his last town hall.

Mr. Gallant’s private life recently raised eyebrows. In September, photos of him wearing leather, collars and other bondage gear circulated online. The New York Post reported that the images were from his modeling work for Mr. S Leather. 

He called the controversy over the photos a “distraction.” 

“It’s mud-slinging at its finest and it has no place in our politics,” Mr. Gallant said. “Whatever the position might be that someone is running for, they should be running on the things that they are going to fight for.”