Christopher Gallant, a 36-year-old air traffic controller, Black Hawk helicopter pilot and volunteer firefighter with the Copaigue Fire Department, hadn’t planned on a career in politics.
But after President Donald Trump took office last year, Mr. Gallant, who lives in Amity Harbor, said he was shocked to see Congress do nothing as the new president made “executive order after executive order that was completely unconstitutional.”
“It went against everything I thought for. I couldn’t sit around anymore and literally watch Congress not do their job,” he said.
Mr. Gallant said he approached Suffolk County Democratic Party Chairman Rich Schaffer about a potential run for Congress this year, and Mr. Shaffer said “we’ll help you. We’ll build a campaign.”
“I went through all the proper steps, all the proper channels, and we said ‘where can I be most effective? That was Nick LaLota as the target in New York 1. I said ‘great, let’s go,'” he said in an early May interview with The Beacon.
Mr. Gallant is one of two candidates in the June 23 Democratic primary to determine who will run against Republican Congressman Nick LaLota this fall. Twenty-five-year-old Lukas Ventouras of Northport, who has put his law school education on pause to run on a message of affordability for Long Islanders, is also seeking the Democratic nomination.
The two candidates take part in a Candidate Debate on Wednesday, May 27 from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Jamesport Meeting House, which will also be available via Zoom here. Here’s our profile of Mr. Ventouras.
Wanting to Serve
Mr. Gallant said he knew he wanted to serve after seeing the Twin Towers fall when he was in middle school, and he joined the U.S. Army at the age of 17. He was deployed in 2012, serving as an air traffic controller in Kuwait.
He then joined the New York National Guard, becoming a warrant officer in 2019. He went to flight school during the Covid-19 pandemic, when he also he worked as a safety officer for the Unified Command at the hospital set up in the Jacob Javits Center in New York City.
He has since deployed as a pilot to the Middle East in 2022-2023, served in a mission with the Secret Service protecting presidential candidates from both parties after the Trump assassination attempt in 2024 and was also called to assist with water bucket drops during the Westhampton Pines Fires near Gabreski Airport in March of 2025.
He takes heart in his volunteerism as a fireman, which he began while living with his family in Pennsylvania briefly when he was 15 (prior to that he’d lived in Smithtown).
“The fire department is a family. It’s a really great community of people, with a feeling of honor and respect for our communities,” he said. “We’re always there for them.”
But, he said, skyrocketing prices on Long Island have made it difficult for local fire departments to find new people who have the time to commit to volunteering, and the volunteer fire service here is in need of younger members.
Another Veteran’s Take on LaLota & Long Island
He’s sharply critical of Mr. LaLota, a Navy veteran from Amityville.
“He’s not well-liked among Democrats, obviously, but also among Independents and Republicans,” he said, based on his conversations with constituents while knocking on doors and holding town halls. “I think we’re really going to be able to flip this seat, which hasn’t been Democratic in 10 years.”
“He doesn’t show up. He doesn’t listen to his constituents,” he said of Mr. LaLota, adding that, while the sitting congressman touts his accomplishment in rolling back the federal cap on state and local tax deductions, known as SALT, “but he didn’t finish the job. There’s still a cap and it still expires.”
“He creates problems to turn around and solve them,” he said, pointing out the Congressman said he wouldn’t agree to the Big Beautiful Bill Act due to its cutting of Affordable Care Act health insurance premium subsidies, but signed it after all and then signed a bill in favor of the ACA subsidies later, “knowing full well the Senate wouldn’t pass it anyway.”
Mr. Gallant said he has friends who are impacted by the ACA cuts, including one who has pancreatic cancer whose medicate was free but now is “costing $1,404 a month and he needs it to survive.”
He added that Veterans Administration clinics have also suffered from budget cuts.
“Instead of increasing staffing, they’re now overworking the staff they have,” he said. “I have friends who use the VA regularly, and it’s a struggle. They just don’t have the resources they need.”
“Insurance companies are just relentless,” he said. “I’m in favor of backing what the Democrats are trying to do to fix Medicare — covering dental, vision and hearing, all steps in the direction of a full single-payer system.”
“We’ve gotta get there, but we need to take steps to do that — I’m ready to take that leap,” he said. “We’re the greatest country in the world. We should have the best health care.”
Mr. Gallant said he’s also very interested in federal investment in infrastructure on Long Island.
“This past hurricane season, we had a Category 5 storm only a couple miles offshore. If that hit Long Island, forget it, we’d be decimated for years to come,” he said, adding that he’s also concerned about this administration’s cuts to FEMA.
He said he’s also a fan of renewable energy, and drives an electric car and has solar panels on his house.
“Right now, progress has all but stopped — programs for being able to get solar panels and electric cars,” he said. “We need to make sure we’re looking at the future. When gas prices go up, there’s no fluctuation when you produce your own power.”
Mr. Gallant said he hasn’t yet explored his potential role in the future of Plum Island, a federally owned island off of Orient Point where an animal disease lab is being decommissioned, but he’s planning to be briefed on the issues there soon. A coalition of environmental groups is working to have the island preserved, either at the federal, state, county or local level.
Shutdowns & Paychecks
As an air traffic controller for the Federal Aviation Adminstration who has worked at Northeast Philidelphia Airport, Farmingdale’s Republic Airport and John F. Kennedy International Airport, and served as the local union president for the National Air Traffic Controllers Association, Mr. Gallant is no fan of government shutdowns, a bargaining tool that has been heavily used by Democrats in the past year.
“The reality is the people who get hurt are making paychecks,” he said. “In the 2018 shutdown, getting that paycheck for zero dollars — how do you put food on the table, a roof over your head or care for your children? Choosing a government shutdown is never the answer. We need a reset.”
Mr. Gallant said he knew the administration was not going to stand for the values he fought for after the Department of Defense was renamed the Department of War.
“If that was any indicator of where we’re going, the writing is literally on the wall,” he said. “That’s not what America stands for. We stand for defense of our allies.”
He said it’s shocking to see this administration’s lack of understanding of “the repercussions of attacking a power like Iran that has significant weapons systems that are far more advanced than Iraq.”
“It’s cost billions of dollars and soldiers’ lives,” he said. “Congress needs to act to end this conflict, and ending it is an issue. I foresee this as being another 20 year conflict like Iraq. Where’s the end? We have no concept of where we’re going and what we’re doing.”
He added that he’s concerned that the current administration’s forays into cryptocurrency and Mr. Trump’s family’s influence in the stock market could lead to another 2008-style economic crisis.
“The stock market should have tanked a while ago,” he said. “People are definitely seeing it. If any other president had done what this president is doing, they’d have been fired a long time ago.”
Mr. Gallant said he hopes his ability to connect with voters will help them see he’s on their side.
“They’re looking for someone who isn’t corrupted by politics, who’s a regular guy who is easy to have a conversation with,” he said. “I’ve got my surfboard ready for the blue wave that’s coming.”
In addition to the May 27 debate with Mr. Ventouras in Jamesport, Mr. Gallant will hold a Town Hall at the Shelter Island American Legion on Sunday, May 31 from 1 to 3 p.m. More details are on his Instagram.
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