A Democrat running for a U.S. House seat representing Long Island said he is “not embarrassed or ashamed” after explicit photos resurfaced over the weekend.
Chris Gallant, 37, is vying to unseat Rep. Nick LaLota (R-New York), and said that the photos have no bearing on his ability to serve in Congress.
“I have always been unapologetically me,” Gallant, who is openly gay, said in a message to supporters obtained Monday by Newsday. “These attacks on my identity have just made me stronger in my values and convictions.”
The photos, which circulated as advertisements for a sex store in San Francisco up until 2020, depict Gallant modeling in a leather posture collar and metal chains. The pictures were first reported by the New York Post.
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“The photographs are authentic and were taken during a private, consensual photo session involving Chris and his then-partner, with whom he was in a committed four-year relationship,” Gallant’s attorney told the Post of his work as a model. “These photographs have no bearing on Chris’s record, qualifications, judgment, or ability to serve.”
Some of the other images date back to 2007 and show Gallant — a retired Army officer and former Black Hawk helicopter pilot — wearing a leather harness and bartending in underwear in Fire Island.
Even before the pictures surfaced, Gallant faced an uphill battle for New York’s 1st Congressional District, which includes parts of Long Island and is rated solid Republican by the Cook Political Report. As of June 30, LaLota has outraised Gallant by over $3 million, according to Federal Election Commission records.
The images have created commotion online, but it remains unclear what role they will play in the race, which remains tight. In January, Public Policy Polling, a Democratic-affiliated polling firm, found Gallant three points behind LaLota, with 20% of voters undecided.
“He will not allow photographs from a past relationship or employment to be distorted and weaponized for political purposes or used to distract voters from the issues that matter,” Gallant’s lawyer added.
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