Summary
Republican congressional candidate Mayra Flores, backed by Trump, has faced criticism for campaigning at church-hosted events, where banners and messaging appear partisan. Events at multiple churches featured Flores alongside religious figures supporting her, raising questions about potential violations of federal tax regulations that prohibit political campaigning in tax-exempt religious spaces.
Community members, including congregants, expressed concern over the blending of politics and religion, viewing it as a misuse of faith to sway voters.
Democratic representative Vicente Gonzalez, Flores’ opponent, has received complaints from constituents about the events and has emphasized the importance of maintaining a non-partisan atmosphere in churches.
Potential?
That is just blatantly illegal.
But it won’t matter.
I’d love for some enterprising IRS auditor to find out what churches she appeared in, then send each of them an audit notice letter. They’ve lost their IRS tax exemption.
This could be any person. Show up to your local church and report them to the IRS if they endorse any candidate.
Can I report the entire state of Utah? The Mormons shill for conservatives all the time
Are those churches tax-exempt? Well, if they do this, they shouldn’t. Time for the IRS to earn some tax dollars!
The Churches are hoping they can challenge this in court eventually and the IRS is fully aware of this fact. They only go after the most extreme violations.
I’m Christian and believe strongly in the separation of church and state because it makes better governments and better churches. I also believe that any entity paying taxes should have some level of input on the political process. Between that and the legitimate non-profit status of most churches, I strongly support legitimate religious institutions being exempt from taxes in the same way I support the food bank and non-profit cultural centers being tax exempt.
But churches that choose to participate directly in the political process are not holding up their end of the bargain. They’re making church and politics both worse, and their tax-exempt status should absolutely be revoked.
I’m sure the government will get right on it. 🙄
I think this particular issue is a fed one. At least as far as tax exempt status goes. Not sure there’s any other issue they’re running afowl of.
