Trump-backed House candidate tied to New Mexico church with extreme anti-women & anti-LGBTQ+ views

A Republican candidate for Congress in New Mexico is running on a platform shaped by a megachurch that condemns same-sex relationships, rejects transgender identities, and calls abortion murder.

Greg Cunningham, backed by former President Donald Trump, has cast his campaign in explicitly ideological terms. Cunningham has called advancing the national Republican agenda his “number one priority” and has repeatedly framed his candidacy as rooted in faith, crediting his pastor with helping him enter politics.

That pastor, Steve Smothermon, leads Legacy Church, an Albuquerque-based megachurch whose official doctrine and public messaging reject LGBTQ+ identity and abortion rights.

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On its beliefs page, the church states that gender is fixed and that marriage is exclusively between a man and a woman. It teaches that the Bible is the “final authority” on human conduct.

In a church blog post titled “Pride Leads to Destruction,” Smothermon warns against what he characterizes as the cultural embrace of “pride,” writing that such acceptance leads people away from God. In a 2022 message, he wrote that “the word of God clearly condemns homosexual behavior.” Years earlier, ahead of the Supreme Court’s legalization of same-sex marriage, Smothermon said he would go to jail rather than comply with such a ruling, local station KRQE reported.

The church has also used unequivocal language on abortion. In one social media post, it shared a sermon clip labeled “ABORTION IS MURDER!”

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Cunningham’s own record aligns with that activism. In 2022, he signed a pledge from Abortion Free New Mexico committing to “ending all abortion” and “all assisted suicide” in the state. The group has compared abortion to the Holocaust and promoted conspiracy theories associated with QAnon, according to New Mexico Political Report.

Neither Cunningham nor representatives for his campaign responded to The Advocate’s request for comment.

The race is taking shape in New Mexico’s 2nd Congressional District, currently represented by Democrat Gabe Vasquez, who is running for reelection.

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Vasquez has built his record around a mix of economic and civil rights issues, including food access, education, and LGBTQ+ equality. In a 2025 press release, he highlighted work engaging rural communities on “food security, LGBTQ+ rights, and education pathways.”

Vasquez is expected to be the Democratic nominee and is not facing a significant primary challenge, while Cunningham has effectively cleared the Republican field after a primary opponent dropped out and endorsed him.

That sets up a likely Vasquez-Cunningham general election in a district that has emerged as one of the most competitive in the state. The seat covers much of southern New Mexico and has a history of narrow, high-stakes races.

The political terrain is complicated. While the district has shown a willingness to split tickets, New Mexico overall leans Democratic, and Trump remains unpopular statewide. A recent poll found his approval rating in the state at a record low, according to New Mexico Political Report.

Cultural issues have been decisive here before. Abortion rights, in particular, played a central role in the last election cycle, and legal protections for LGBTQ+ people are firmly embedded in state law. In 2013, the New Mexico Supreme Court unanimously ruled that denying marriage licenses to same-sex couples violated the state constitution.