Politics
JUST IN: Democrat Politician Caught In Sick Scandal As Compromising Pics Emerge
A Democratic congressional candidate in New York is facing fresh scrutiny after explicit BDSM-themed photos from his past resurfaced online months before voters head to the polls.
Chris Gallant, 37, the Democratic nominee challenging Republican Rep. Nick LaLota in New York’s 1st Congressional District, previously appeared in photographs connected to San Francisco fetish retailer Mr. S Leather.
The archived images showed Gallant modeling leather collars, harnesses, bondage equipment and other products. Some explicit photographs later appeared on third-party adult websites, according to a report by the New York Post.
Gallant’s attorney, Sara Azari, confirmed that the photographs were authentic but said they originated from a consensual photo shoot involving Gallant and a former partner.
“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 Los Angeles and New York-based attorney Sara Azari told The Post.
Azari said Gallant also knew the owner of Mr. S Leather and allowed some of the images to be used in connection with the store’s merchandise.
“Chris was also friends with the owner of Mr. S Leather, and the shoot was intended to be fun and personal, with the understanding that Mr. S could use select images in connection with certain products,” she added.
🇺🇸Long Island Republicans just got a gift wrapped in leather
Chris Gallant, the Democrat trying to unseat Rep. Nick LaLota in NY-1, spent part of his pre-Congress life modeling bondage gear for a San Francisco fetish brand.
Gallant appeared in multiple pics for “Mr. S Leather,”… pic.twitter.com/jd2Q4TBvYy
— Mario Nawfal (@MarioNawfal) September 14, 2026
Internet archives indicate photographs connected to Gallant appeared on the retailer’s website between roughly 2011 and 2020.
Azari said Gallant later asked the company to remove the images after he began considering a career in public service.
“As Chris began considering a future in public service, he asked that the photographs no longer be used and that they be removed from the company’s website. Mr. S honored his request,” she continued.
Other explicit images reportedly surfaced on adult websites unaffiliated with Mr. S Leather. Azari said Gallant never granted those outside sites unrestricted permission to distribute them.
She said his arrangement with the retailer was “never intended to authorize unrestricted publication” by third parties.
The resurfaced material includes photographs showing Gallant in bondage gear and other sexually explicit settings.
Gallant has served in the Army National Guard since 2006 and is a Black Hawk helicopter pilot, according to his professional biography. He has also worked as a volunteer firefighter and previously served as a Federal Aviation Administration air traffic controller and union leader.
A separate photograph from 2007 shows Gallant at the annual Invasion of the Pines LGBTQ event on Fire Island. His attorney said that image predates the Mr. S Leather photo shoot.
Gallant’s legal team pushed back strongly against efforts to use the photographs as a campaign issue.
“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,” Azari stressed.
“These photographs have no bearing on Chris’s record, qualifications, judgment, or ability to serve,” Azari went on. “He remains fully committed to his campaign and to earning the trust of the people he seeks to represent.”
Gallant won the Democratic nomination after defeating Lukas Ventouras in the June primary and is now running against LaLota, who has represented the district since 2023.
