Pat Davis, New Mexico Political Report — An Albuquerque megachurch whose pastor has a long history of endorsing conservative candidates is once again testing the IRS’ prohibition on nonprofits engaging in politics by telling congregants of his Legacy Church to vote for Gregg Hull and Greg Cunningham, Republicans ru nning for governor and Congress, respectively, in next week’s elections.
On October 4, Pastor Steve Smotherman told congregants in Legacy Church’s nine different churches to vote for Greg Cunningham for Congress against incumbent Gabe Vasquez, a Democrat, in New Mexico’s second Congressional district which includes Albuquerque’s Westside. Two days later, he shared a long endorsement post on X telling followers to vote for Republican Gregg Hull for governor. Both endorsements were widely shared locally and generated lots of local comments online. The Guardian news outlet picked up the story on Thursday. They added additional instances of Smotherman’s endorsements from the pulpit and on the church’s social media accounts.
In sermons shared online, Smotherman is careful to tell members not to vote for partisan reasons, but to vote their values. He also says that Hull is a “born again Christian” and Sunday school teacher. He similarly lauds on Cunningham who he says has been a Legacy Church member for 14 years…