New bombshell reporting reveals that despite it being illegal for tax-exempt nonprofits to endorse political candidates, Greg Cunningham is fully embracing the endorsement of an extremist megachurch.
According to the report, Legacy Church has been embroiled in scandals for years: including the pastor’s nephew being “sentenced to 45-years in prison for abducting two men,” and a “patient of a residential drug treatment facility that the church operated su[ing] the facility for sexual abuse.” This follows a long history of allegedly violating tax laws and extreme anti-LGBTQ, anti-women, and anti-abortion rhetoric by the church.
Despite their extremist record and criminal ties, Cunningham called Legacy Church “a home away from home” in a campaign video and credits his extremist pastor in part for inspiring him to get into politics.
REMINDER: Greg Cunningham was recently caught prominently featuring a convicted felon in his campaign ad — his barber and friend of 30 years — who pled guilty to two felony drug trafficking charges for cocaine.
DCCC Spokesperson Anna Elsasser:
“Greg Cunningham claims to stand up for safety, but he has made it clear he has no qualms receiving endorsements from extreme individuals and organizations. New Mexico families deserve a leader they can trust to keep them safe, and that’s why they’ll send Gabe Vasquez back to Congress on Tuesday.”
Read more:
The Guardian: New Mexico megachurch endorses Republican candidates, testing federal ban
- A megachurch in New Mexico has endorsed two Republican candidates running in this year’s midterms, including a Donald Trump-backed candidate running in one of the blue state’s few competitive races. The church’s endorsements, which violate federal law banning tax-exempt nonprofits from endorsing political candidates, come as the Trump administration is challenging that ban in federal court.
- In mid-August, pastor Steve Smothermon of Legacy Church, a nondenominational church with nine locations across the state, told his congregation about one of the candidates: “Greg Cunningham has faithfully served our church for 14 years and shares our biblical values. Let’s pray for him, support his campaign, get registered, and vote to flip this seat for someone who will stand for God, our Constitution, and a better New Mexico!”
- Greg Cunningham, a Republican, is currently running to unseat Democratic Representative Gabriel Vasquez. Recent polling shows Vasquez receiving 48% of the vote to Cunningham’s 44%. In 2024, Vasquez was one of 13 Democrats across the country who won his House race in a district that voted for Donald Trump.
- Smothermon has drawn criticism for years for endorsing candidates in state and local elections. His disputes with local politicians have made headlines since at least 2011, and in 2014 the church gave parishioners sample ballots with the names of the candidates it supported highlighted. In 2021, Smothermon told parishioners who to vote for in a city council race, and in 2022, he told members of his church to vote for Republican gubernatorial candidate Mark Ronchetti, calling the current Democratic governor “demonic”. The Freedom from Religion Foundation, a nonprofit focused on the separation of church and state, later filed a complaint with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) over Legacy’s involvement in the 2022 election.
- That year, Legacy Church made headlines when Smothermon told his congregation that Ronchetti had confided in him that, if elected, he would ban abortion in the state. After the 2022 election, it emerged that Solomon Peña, a state house candidate who hired hitmen to fire at the homes of several New Mexico Democratic leaders after he lost his race, had attended Legacy Church.
- Legacy has been tied to several other scandals in the state. In 2020, Smothermon’s nephew was sentenced to 45-years in prison for abducting two men, mutilating and dismembering one of them, after he believed they stole money and drugs from his home. And in 2024, a patient of a residential drug treatment facility that the church operated sued the facility for sexual abuse. The facility and Legacy Church both deny the claims, saying the lawsuit was “riddled with spurious allegations”.
- The church has otherwise made headlines for protesting against same-sex marriage… [and] hosted Charlie Kirk for one of his last public appearances in August 2025.
- “I very literally would not be here if not for Charlie. He visited my church and he inspired me to take a stand and answer a call to serve on this new battlefield,” Cunningham said during a speech at the Republican National Convention in September. Cunningham saw Kirk speak at Legacy Church, which he called “a home away from home” in a campaign video.
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