Pastor won't be voting for Bachmann -- he can't

Living Word's Rev. Mac Hammond lives in a different district. He says he meant to say he'd vote for her if he could.

19 Oct 2006 // When Living Word Christian Center pastor Rev. Mac Hammond said he planned to vote for Michele Bachmann, the GOP Sixth District candidate for Congress, he stressed that he was making an individual choice.

But Hammond can't vote for Bachmann. He lives in the Third District.

Melanie Sloan, executive director of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, the nonpartisan watchdog group that filed a complaint about Hammond's pulpit endorsement, seized on the information as "more evidence he was trying to get around the law" that prohibits churches from promoting candidates.

But in an interview from his home in Plymouth, Hammond said he misspoke, and he apologized.

"My whole purpose in speaking about Michele is to say my personal view is that I would vote for her if I could," said Hammond, whose church is based in Brooklyn Park. "I looked at the video, and that's not what I said."I certainly assume responsibility for the uproar," said Hammond.

Voter registration with the Minnesota Secretary of State indicates Hammond has been registered at the same address and voted in the same precinct since 1994.

The IRS prohibits churches from "directly or indirectly participating in, or intervening in, any political campaign on behalf of (or in opposition to) any candidate."

Officials from Living Word had said Tuesday that Hammond misunderstood IRS guidelines, and they promised it wouldn't happen again.

Hammond reiterated that Wednesday, and said he'd occasionally invited politicians from both parties to his church and encouraged congregants to be respectful "even if you don't agree with them." I've learned my lesson," he said.

Hammond and his wife, Lynne, have donated to Bachmann and other Republican candidates, according to records filed with the Federal Election Commission.

In 2006, Hammond contributed $2,000 to Bachmann and $800 to the Republican Party of Minnesota, records show. Lynne Hammond gave an additional $500 to Bachmann.