Christopher Gallant defeated Lukas Ventouras in the Democratic Party primary in the First Congressional District Tuesday, winning nearly two-thirds of the votes cast, 12,132 to 7,130, according to unofficial results reported by the Suffolk County Board of Elections.
Gallant, 37, of Amity Harbor, will face two-term incumbent Nick LaLota (R-Amityville) in the general election.
“Long Islanders deserve an independent voice who will fight for them, not a rubber stamp for this administration,” Gallant said in a statement Tuesday night.
“We built this movement around a Six-Point Mission Plan to lower costs, strengthen infrastructure, protect our water, improve storm resilience, support veterans, and help small businesses and working families succeed. Tonight, voters sent a clear message that it’s time for action,” Gallant said. “Now, the real work begins.”
Both challenger and incumbent have military backgrounds.
Gallant joined the Army at 17, became an air traffic controller and deployed to Kuwait in 2012. He joined the Army National Guard in 2019, became a Black Hawk helicopter pilot and deployed again in 2022. He is an air traffic controller and a volunteer firefighter.
LaLota, 48, is a U.S. Naval Academy graduate who served in the Navy for 11 years, attaining the rank of lieutenant. Prior to his election to Congress in 2022, he was chief of staff to Suffolk Presiding Officer Kevin McCaffrey, served as a trustee in the Village of Amityville and was a former commissioner of the Suffolk County Board of Elections.
Both LaLota and Gallant live outside the First Congressional District, an unusual set-up in the eastern Long Island District that, since 2022, takes in the East End towns, central and northern Brookhaven and the towns of Huntington and Smithtown. It does not include the south shore of Suffolk County, where both candidates live in its westernmost region.
The Cook Political Report rates the New York First District as “Solidly Republican.” LaLota is expected to have a strong advantage in November, according to the Cook Political Report analysis.
The First Congressional District has long been considered a swing district, but the seat was held by Republican Lee Zeldin from 2015 to 2022. Zeldin chose not to seek a fifth term in Congress in order to run for governor in 2022.
President Donald Trump won the First Congressional District by 10 points in 2024. LaLota won re-election in 2024 by the same margin.
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