Dallas mega-church minister Frederick Haynes III on Friday cast his run for Congress as a natural extension of decades spent confronting poverty, inequality and racial injustice from the pulpit and the streets of southern Dallas.
Haynes, a Democrat and longtime senior pastor at Friendship-West Baptist Church, said economic worries facing much of the 30th Congressional District would guide his agenda if elected to replace Rep. Jasmine Crockett, who is running for Senate.
“Most of the residents of District 30 are economically struggling, economically insecure and one crisis away from disaster,” Haynes said during a taping of NBC5’s Lone Star Politics, airing Sunday. “Affordability, that’s the word people are talking about. For me, it’s not just a campaign theme.”
Haynes jumped into the race late, which he said was in response to a draft movement, jolting the North Texas political scene. It caused Rep. Marc Veasey, a fellow Democrat, to decide against running in District 30, which Republicans reshaped last year. That left Veasey few other political options.
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Haynes called Veasey a “wonderful public servant” who was victimized by “racist gerrymandering” aimed at Black and Latino communities.
He also said he has the support of Crockett, who has given him “sage advice” in advance of the March 3 primary.
The other major candidate is former state Rep. Barbara Caraway of Dallas. In the heavily Democratic district, winning the primary is tantamount to winning the seat.
“What I bring to the plate is 40-plus years of public service,” Haynes said. “One of the reasons that my name recognition is perhaps high is because I spent so much time in the streets with the people fighting injustice.”
Haynes said he wants to focus on creating jobs, curbing environmental injustice, improving education, and generating access to affordable health care.
“In District 30, we find that there are residents whose life expectancy is not determined by their genetic code, but by the ZIP code,” he said.
Lone Star Politics airs at 8:30 a.m. Sunday on NBC5.