Amato uses ‘comms’ skills to power his campaign

Since launching his candidacy for the 36th District state senate seat in March, Christian Amato — a Pelham Parkway resident — has kept busy knocking on doors, handing out pamphlets and crafting his campaign message.

Amato is one of four candidates vying for the 36th-district seat being vacated by Alessandra Biaggi who is now running for the redistricted congressional seat. 

It just so happens that messaging and outreach are Amato’s bread and butter when it comes to political campaigns. 

While this is his first time running for elected office, Amato has crafted messaging and rallied support for several candidates for quite some time now.  

Through his political strategy firm, Consense Strategies, he managed Andom Ghebreghiorgis’ 2020 campaign for Congress. He did communications and outreach for Elisa Crespo, who was the first trans Latina running for city council in the Bronx. 

And perhaps most notably, he helped dethrone longtime incumbent Jeffrey Klein in 2018 through his work with Sen. Biaggi. “I was her digital strategist, managing all of the digital communications for the campaign,” Amato said. 

In many ways, Amato can trace his success in campaign messaging back to his theatrical past. Amato has helped produce over 45 off-Broadway productions. He was also a producer on the on-Broadway productions of The Color Purple and Rocky, both of which received Tony nominations. 

After starting his own production company, Amato put on several Shakespeare performances for students in the Bronx, many of whom had never seen the English playwright’s works come to life. 

It was on the night of Donald Trump’s 2016 election that Amato realized he could put his theatrical skills to political work. As he followed the news on election night, Amato said he remembered thinking, “Republicans are doing a couple things that we as Democrats just have been really unsuccessful at.” 

Amato first noted how skilled the Republican party was at coming together and pushing forward as a unified whole. Whereas the Democratic party, with its “big tent” ethos, is split up into various factions. “We have to find a way to bridge this wide party — this big tent party,” he thought to himself that night. 

“Republicans are also really nailing stagecraft. They’re really nailing messaging. And at that moment, I was like, ‘I’ve worked in advertising, I’ve worked in production, I understand how to tell a story and how to communicate,’” he said. “These are really transferable elements that the party could benefit from.” The world’s not all a stage, Amato realized, but it is a political stage. 

That said, style is not everything for Amato — the Pelham Parkway Democrat also has substance. Amato said he’s particularly concerned about the effects climate change is having on Bronx neighborhoods along the coastline. 

“One of the reasons why our communities are so prone to flooding, including those above sea level, is because our aging sewage system can’t support the impacts of a flash flood or storm,” he said. “This is causing lobbies to flood, people to get flooded out of their basement apartments in Throgs Neck. This is a shared issue from Riverdale, to our coastal community down in Throgs Neck.” 

Amato also said that, if elected, he hopes to address the lack of affordable housing in the district. “If we’re building affordable, supportive housing that’s accessible and affordable to middle class, and low-income populations, already we’re going to be uplifting a real and enormous amount of Bronxites,” he said. 

Amato first came upon many of the issues he is campaigning on through his community work. Right now, Amato serves on the board of Community Board 11, the Pelham Parkway Neighborhood Association and the Liberty Democratic Association.

Beyond that, Amato has spearheaded several mutual aid efforts throughout the pandemic, delivering masks and fresh produce all throughout the borough. 

“I’ve lived in this community my entire life, and I’ve been organizing here for a decade,” he said.

“Once elected, I’m ready to hit the ground running and get to work immediately.”