Southern Baptist Convention President Bart Barber donated to the Republican primary opponent of Dusty Deevers, a fellow Southern Baptist pastor who is running for Oklahoma State Senate, according to campaign finance records obtained by The Sentinel.
Barber, the pastor of First Baptist Church in Farmersville, Texas, contributed $100 on August 11 to the campaign of Jean Hausheer, who won 30.8% of the Republican primary vote in the October 10 special primary election for Oklahoma Senate District 32, the campaign finance records reveal. Deevers, the pastor of Grace Reformed Baptist Church in Elgin, Oklahoma, was ultimately victorious in the four-way Republican primary race with 37.1% of the vote.
Hausheer was criticized during the Republican primary race for previous statements supporting lockdown policies such as Biden administration vaccine mandates for private employers. She also donated $1,000 last year to Joy Hofmeister, a former Democratic gubernatorial nominee in Oklahoma who ran in support of increased abortion legality, according to more campaign finance records reviewed by The Sentinel.
The donation from Barber comes after a series of clashes between himself and Deevers on the issue of abortion: Deevers supports the immediate abolition of abortion as well as criminal penalties for all parties involved. Larry Bush, the Democratic nominee for the Oklahoma State Senate seat, prominently featured criticism from Barber toward Deevers in a campaign mailer. Barber clarified on Friday that his words were taken “out of context” in the advertisement and used without permission.
"I’ve been so grieved by the electoral gains that the culture of death has made in our nation of late. Now is no time for division among those who oppose abortion,” Barber claimed in the Friday social media post. “For my part, I will not speak against Mr. Deevers’s campaign. Even if abortion abolitionists will not reciprocate, I will welcome any of good will who will work together to end abortion.”
Barber also remarked in a statement on Saturday that neither the Southern Baptist Convention nor the president of the denomination endorses political candidates. He told The Sentinel that he believes the donation to Hausheer was consistent with his commitment to not engage in “negative politics.”
“I have lived in three states in my life: Arkansas, Oklahoma, and Texas. From time to time I make political donations in those three states to support conservative, pro-life candidates who defend religious liberty,” he said. “The fact that this race was important enough for me to make a contribution and yet I still have never made any statement against Deevers’s campaign demonstrates my honest commitment not to participate in negative politics. Why any publication supportive of Deevers would seek to put me in a position to violate that commitment or would give free publicity to an attack ad that was produced using my words without my consent and against my will, why such a publication would do that is beyond my comprehension.”
The Sentinel previously interviewed Deevers about his platform after his first campaign advertisement went viral within conservative social media circles.
The Sentinel replied asking Barber if he was aware of the donation to Hofmeister or the support of the vaccine mandates from Hausheer before he made a contribution to her campaign. This article will be updated with any further response.
Deevers unsuccessfully ran for vice president of the Southern Baptist Convention earlier this year during the summer meeting of the nation’s largest association of Protestant churches, finishing in second place with 20.7% of the vote from attendees. Barber was elected to a second term as president in a separate ballot with 68.4% of the vote.
