Democrat in Congressional Race Embraces Risqué Past After Photo Leak

Chris Gallant, a Democratic candidate for Congress on Long Island and a Black Hawk pilot in the Army National Guard, is openly embracing his sexual proclivities after explicit images surfaced online. The photos, taken around 2010 when Gallant was 20, depict him in bondage gear, including a cage and muzzle, for a San Francisco-based fetish company.

Gallant, 37, told The New York Times that his friends are aware of his kinks and humorously stated, 'I make Christian Grey look like amateur hour.' The images were reportedly taken for Mr. S Leather, a company specializing in gay fetish wear. His attorney indicated that the other individual in the photos was Gallant's boyfriend at the time.

Following the virality of the images on social media, Gallant's campaign responded by launching an advertisement featuring the candidate in a tight black T-shirt, with the slogan 'Make Politics Sexy Again.' Gallant has suggested that the attention could be his 'Kim Kardashian moment,' increasing his name recognition on a global scale.

He has emphasized that he participated in the photo shoot voluntarily and was not coerced. The New York Post initially reported the story, noting that Gallant was serving in the National Guard when the photos were taken. Although Mr. S Leather removed the images at Gallant's request before his campaign launch in August 2025, copies persist in public web archives.

Within 48 hours of the Post's article, Gallant released a video on Facebook, characterizing the photo leak as a 'coordinated political hit' intended to force him out of the congressional race. A local conservative group subsequently shared an older photograph of Gallant wearing a harness at San Francisco's Folsom Street Fair.

Gallant is challenging incumbent Republican Representative Nick LaLota for the seat in New York's 1st Congressional District, an area that spans from Huntington to the eastern tip of Long Island, including the Hamptons. Republicans have held this seat since 2015, with LaLota securing approximately 55 percent of the vote in 2024.

LaLota's campaign has not directly addressed the leaked photos, though the congressman has referred to Gallant as 'weak and woke.' Gallant, who also works as a volunteer firefighter and formerly served as an air traffic controller at JFK Airport, countered these remarks at a recent town hall, stating, 'I’ve carried people out of burning buildings; I’ve flown helicopters in the Middle East. If that’s weak and woke, well, I just think that’s inaccurate.'