Chris Gallant

Chris Gallant and his fiancé both serve in the military, and their relationship has involved deployments and long periods apart.¹ Away from work, he enjoys fishing, time on the water and winter skiing.² His childhood included time in Smithtown and Pennsylvania, where he began volunteer firefighting at 15.³

Gallant enlisted at 17 and served as a military air traffic controller in Kuwait in 2012.³ He later became a warrant officer and Black Hawk pilot in the New York Army National Guard, training at Fort Rucker during the pandemic.³² His later service included a Middle East deployment in 2022 and 2023.³

His civilian career has included FAA air traffic control at Northeast Philadelphia, Republic and John F. Kennedy airports, and local union leadership with the National Air Traffic Controllers Association.³ He recalls receiving a paycheck for zero dollars during a government shutdown and opposes using shutdowns as negotiating tactics.³ During the pandemic, he also worked as a safety officer at the Javits Center field hospital.³

Gallant favors adding dental, vision and hearing coverage to Medicare as steps toward a system with a single payer.³ He opposes the Iran war and wants greater attention to affordability and constituent service.² He challenges Republican Representative Nick LaLota in New York's 1st District.²