Christopher M. Garrity

Christopher Michael Garrity (born March 16, 1989) is a former U.S. Army Ranger 1st Battalion 75th Ranger. He is an academic specializing in International Relations and the emerging field of astropolitics. He is recognized for his contributions to the field of Political Science at Brown University in the area of astropoliticshttps://commencement.brown.edu/sites/default/files/2024-05/Full-Commencement-Program-2024.pdf. This an emerging field within International Relations aimed at expanding the field of the laws that govern each countries space program and the ever evolving and expanding field of space exploration. Garrity pursued his PhD with a hope to expand the field by redefining jurisprudence in space law, and to help design new legal systems in original ways that will allow new paths in the field to be taken all the time.
==Military career and education==
Army Ranger in the 1st Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment from 2008 to 2015, following his completion of basic training, airborne school, and Ranger Selection in 2007 and early 2008.
Following his military service, Garrity pursued higher education, earning a Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) in Political Science with a concentration in Russian Language and Culture from Columbia University in the City of New York, graduating in 2018. He also completed a two-week summer college prep course through the Warrior-Scholar Project in 2015, shortly after leaving the Army and before beginning his studies at Columbia.
Garrity continued his education at Brown University, where he obtained a Master of Arts (A.M.) in political science in 2020 and later a Doctorate (Ph.D.) in international relations in 2024. As a graduate student after the 2020 elections Garrity participated in the post election virtual debate hosted by the Taubman Center for American Politics and Policy at Brown’s Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs where he discussed polls missing the mark when it came to predicting the outcome of the Democratic party in 2020.
His doctoral research focused on astropolitics, an emerging field within international relations that examines the political dynamics of outer space and space exploration. Garrity has been involved in various academic and research projects and has mentored others conducting research in the field of academics. His work is seen as part of the broader discourse on space law and the politics of outer space in general.
Garrity most recently defended his dissertation at Brown in May of 2024, titled, "Lex Ad Astra: Astro-jurisprudence and astropolitics in the Final Frontier". To be released May 2026 from Brown's library there is currently no copy available.
==Political involvement==
Garrity announced his candidacy for the United States Presidential Election when he filed with the FEC June 2, 2023. Garrity's Independent status is his campaign headline, "No Party, No Problem" as he does not affiliate with any major party and has a minimal government stance.
Garrity is one of two candidates not belonging to a major political party general election to ballot access in Oklahoma along with Robert Kennedy Jr. who dropped out of the race August 23, 2024. The order of their names listed under Independent were drawn with Kennedy's name being placed first.
===Changing political landscape===
At the time of filing Garrity was 35 years old making him the youngest person to be officially running for President during the 2024 General Election and with majority access in 14+ states, using a non traditional campaign approach. Garrity became eligible on March 16th, of 2024 to run for Office. For the 2024 election year, age has been a topic of discussion on the political landscape as the candidates are getting notably younger. The second youngest person running during the 2024 Presidential election is Chase Oliver from Tennessee at the age of 39. The BBC reports "Mr. Oliver is by far the youngest contender in the years' field", an oversight likely due to error. Vivik Ramaswamy 38, was stated as the youngest before he dropped out early in 2024.https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/01/15/vivek-ramaswamy-drops-out-2024-election/ The 2024 election has been notable for the publics interest in the lowering age of candidates filing showing a significantly lower age than historically. The Washington Post lists "Ron DeSantis as potentially being the 3rd youngest president ever" also likely an oversight. There has so far been no president elected under the age of 40 in the United States. 
Garrity claims to use a minimalist approach, running without a campaign manager and actively rejecting donations. The FEC reports his campaign was started with $40,400 contributed by the candidate. Review of campaign spending receipts shows his largest operating expense was for $35,000.00 and was paid to the State of Oklahoma on 06/20/2024. In addition to Oklahoma he has write-in access in over 14 states as of September 1, 2024. His campaign focuses on ending party politics, advocating for campaign finance reform, and committing to a one-term presidency with an approach around direct voter engagement without traditional campaign structures.
He is listed on the Third Party and independent candidates for the 2024 election and by official sources.https://www.kosu.org/politics/2024-07-17/heres-the-order-political-parties-will-appear-on-oklahoma-ballotshttps://kfor.com/news/local/oklahoma-state-election-board-held-ballot-order-drawing-tuesday/
==Historical solo campaigns==
Garrity is currently running with no active campaign and has planned to go door to door over a span of 513 days to gain ballot access through gathering electors. Running a solo, door-to-door campaign without any campaign manager, strategy using others, or organizational support is exceptionally rare for a presidential bid. Most candidates at any level of government have some form of support system, whether it’s volunteers, a campaign manager, or a political organization behind them.
However, a few notable individuals have taken highly independent approaches to their campaigns:
# Abraham Lincoln (1840s-1850s): Before becoming president, Lincoln ran for various local and state offices. He was known to personally campaign door-to-door and gave speeches on his own behalf. However, even Lincoln had a loose network of supporters. Abraham Lincoln spent $100,000. Like Garrity his minimal campaign was inspired by the conflict surrounding intense divide between conflicting interests and conflicting parties.
# Eugene V. Debs (early 20th century): Debs ran multiple campaigns for president as a Socialist, often relying on grassroots support rather than traditional campaign structures. Though not entirely solo, Debs minimized reliance on formal campaign organizations.https://www.american.edu/spa/publicpurpose/upload/campaign-tactics-of-eugene-debs-in-the-1912-presidential-campaign.pdf
# Ross Perot (1992, 1996): Perot, a billionaire businessman, largely self-funded his campaigns, spending a significant amount of his own money. However, he did have campaign staff and advisors, especially in 1992, when he initially ran as an independent and later formed the Reform Party.https://digitalcommons.lasalle.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1162&context=the_histories
# John W. Davis (1924): Davis, a relatively unknown candidate from West Virginia, tried to run a campaign without significant backing from a party apparatus. However, he relied on some level of organizational support.
# Various Local Candidates: At the local level (e.g., city council, small-town mayor), it is more common for candidates to run highly independent campaigns, sometimes even knocking on doors themselves with little to no formal support.
Category:1989 births
Category:Brown University alumni
Category:1st Ranger Battalion (United States)
Category:American people