Mercy Culture Pastor Landon Schott endorses candidate for Fort Worth City Council
The lead pastor at Mercy Culture Church in Fort Worth’s Oakhurst neighborhood has picked his candidate for Fort Worth’s District 6 council seat.
Pastor Landon Schott endorsed college professor and security contractor Marshall Hobbs, who is running in the May 3 election to represent the district, which covers the southwestern portion of the city and the Como neighborhood.
“The only person more hated than an outspoken speaker is a Black conservative who regularly gets accused of abandoning his people when he stands with his god,” Schott said in an Instagram post clipped from an April 6 church service.
Schott praised Hobbs for leaving the Democratic Party over its stances on same-sex marriage, abortion and “taking God off their party.”
Schott also referenced previous criticisms about his church’s support for political candidates possibly violating Internal Revenue Service rules barring churches from political activity.
While the church doesn’t directly endorse candidates, its For Liberty and Justice Ministry regularly releases lists of preferred candidates for state and local races.
“It’s amazing because every time a white pastor gets up and endorses somebody they say ‘separation between church and state’ and I’ve broken the Johnson Amendment,” Schott said.
“But there could be Black pastors who endorse Democrats on a regular basis, and I’ve never seen the Star-Telegram once question,” he said.
IRS rules prohibit leaders of nonprofits, like churches, from making partisan comments at official functions, but those rules have been enforced only twice since 2002.
When asked which churches Schott felt deserved more scrutiny, he pointed to Friendship West Baptist Church in Dallas calling it a political arm of the Democratic Party, in an Instagram direct message to the Star-Telegram.
Friendship West’s lead pastor, the Rev. Freddie D. Haynes III, is friends with former vice president and Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris, according to a PBS News profile of Harris.
The church is also involved a number of social justice efforts around immigration, criminal justice reform and food policy, according to its website.
The Rev. Thomas Garner, a staff pastor at Friendship West, denied Schott’s accusation in a phone call with the Star-Telegram.
“We love Jesus and we believe Jesus loves everybody,” Garner said, adding the church wasn’t interested in responding to what he called false accusations.
Hobbs thanked Schott for the endorsement in a Facebook post, saying he was humbled by the power of God. .
“At times I feel I don’t deserve to be used by Him. But, Pastor Schott support, which he did not have to do, let me know God is with me,” Hobbs said in the post.
He thanked voters in the district taking the time to meet with him and for making the race a pleasure.
This will be Hobb’s third run for a seat on the city council. He ran to represent the north side District 2 in 1991 and the east Fort Worth District 8 in a special election in 2012.
In the District 6 race, Hobbs is facing off against public school executive Mia Hall, nonprofit executive Daryl Davis, and veteran Adrian Smith. The seat is held by Jared Williams, who is not seeking reelection.
Early voting ends at 7 p.m. on April 29. Election day is May 3. If no candidate gets more than 50% of the vote, the top two candidates will advance to a June 7 runoff.
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