And it’s not Mike Huckabee.

In introducing the candidate, the pastor said, “the more he speaks, the more he wins my confidence, and . . . if the polls were open today, I would cast my vote for this [politician].” Then just in case that wasn’t enough, the pastor encouraged his congregation to follow his voting lead, “If you can’t support your own, you’re never going to get anywhere. . . . I want to see this man in office.”

A little more detail here.

Before he arrived, the pastor of the Pentecostal Temple Church of God in Christ, speaking from the pulpit, advocated for [his candidate], possibly breaking the law. Pastor Leon Smith told the congregation that “the more he [his candidate] speaks, the more he wins my confidence, and . . . if the polls were open today, I would cast my vote for this senator.”

He urged them to do the same, saying, “If you can’t support your own, you’re never going to get anywhere. . . . I want to see this man in office.”

“If you can’t support your own…?” We’ll assume that by that the pastor means a fellow Christian, though there are other fair interpretations of the phrase.

So who is the recipient of the pulpit endorsement, which might have been illegal?

Under federal tax law, nonprofits such as churches are prohibited from endorsing or opposing political candidates. The Internal Revenue Service has ruled that the forbidden partisan activity includes speech from the pulpit that indicates the church favors a particular candidate.

As I said, it’s not Mike Huckabee. And that’s likely to make all the difference.