And so, the culture wars have landed on Long Island. On Sunday, The New York Post and a local news site published photos of a younger Christopher Gallant, the First District Democratic candidate for Congress, having sex and wearing light-duty bondage gear. Predictably, The Post framed the leak as potential political dynamite, “NY Dem House candidate modeled for XXX-rated BDSM ads while serving in National Guard.”
“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,” Sara Azari, Mr. Gallant’s attorney, told The Post.
Mr. Gallant, 37, is openly gay. He is working to defeat the incumbent Republican Nick LaLota. It is likely that opposition research on behalf of Mr. LaLota’s campaign found the images online and provided them to friendly media outlets; it is also likely that Suffolk Democratic leadership knew about them as well.
Opposition research, or oppo, is a near-universal practice in congressional races. The goal is to provide ammunition to damage an opponent. The flipside is defensive research to uncover any vulnerabilities on one’s own side before the opponent does. Funding for oppo does not need to come from within campaign budgets; outside groups and national committees can do the work themselves or provide the money. In some instances, dirt on candidates can be used as a form of horse trading between rivals, neutralizing what would be damaging revelations by threatening to go public with troubling details of their own. This is a kind of mutual “Let’s not go there” strategy.
In the digital age, sources are many and can include public records, news reports, and social media. Mr. Gallant’s photos were apparently discovered on the website of Mr. S Leather, San Francisco’s oldest-operating fetish-supply retailer. In many of them, the youthful Mr. Gallant has a wry glint in his eyes as if very much amused by the graphic goings-on. For the curious, messengerpapers.com posted a censored set.
In a photo released in response by Mr. Gallant’s campaign, he is seen in fatigues standing in front of a helicopter. Accompanying text notes that he is a military pilot, former air traffic controller, union leader, and volunteer firefighter. But it goes on, accusing Mr. LaLota of being scared, asserting how little whoever gave the photos to the media think of Suffolk voters, and pointing out the “documented proof that Chris Gallant has a six-pack.”
In a personal video post, Mr. Gallant himself punched back: “I’m proud of who I am. I won’t be shamed into silence — and I won’t allow my private life to be distorted and weaponized against me.”
In our view, his response has been just right. And, as a fan posted on X: “Republicans trying to make us hate a candidate by showing us how unimaginably hot he is.” How this will play out in the midterm election is impossible to predict, but it already has added plenty of spice to what was an otherwise dull campaign.