The Rev. Frederick Haynes III has supported Dallas Democratic Rep. Jasmine Crockett for years, offering her spiritual guidance and political support as her pastor and friend.

Now, with her endorsement, the longtime Baptist minister is seeking to succeed Crockett in Texas’ 30th Congressional District, after she decided to pursue a Senate bid rather than run for reelection to the House.

Haynes, who has served as the senior pastor at Friendship-West Baptist Church in Oak Cliff for over 40 years, has been involved in social justice and political causes for decades as one of the nation’s most visible Black Baptist leaders. He briefly served as president and CEO of the Rainbow PUSH Coalition, founded by civil rights leader and former Democratic presidential candidate Jesse Jackson, and is a board member of major civil rights and Baptist advocacy organizations. 

At an event formally kicking off his campaign this week, Haynes staked out several progressive policy positions, saying he supported “quality affordable health care for all” and dismantling Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the federal agency in charge of enforcing immigration laws, which has come under scrutiny recently after an agent shot and killed a U.S. citizen in Minneapolis.

Well known to Democratic politicians and Black leaders in Dallas, Haynes counts Crockett and Georgia Sen. Raphael Warnock, a senior pastor as well, as confidantes. He told The Texas Tribune he consulted with both in the days leading up to the December filling deadline, and ultimately decided that Congress was another forum for the advocacy he’s done from the pulpit. 

“This is a continuation of the mission I’ve been doing for so many years, and it’s just extending it to a political platform, even though I’ve always been one to stand for justice and try to bring justice to politics,” Haynes said in an interview. “I just think it was a matter of prayer, responding to the push of my people and then my own sense of calling.”

Haynes, 65, is running in a deep-blue district whose boundaries were shifted by Republicans during their mid-decade redistricting summer to shrink the number of Democratic-held seats in North Texas from three to two. The newly constituted 30th District contains the southern portion of Dallas County, including downtown Dallas and Oak Cliff, and stretches to DeSoto and Lancaster. It also extends into Tarrant County, encompassing portions of Arlington and Grand Prairie. 

Long a bastion of Black political power, the district was represented by Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson for 20 years before Crockett succeeded her in 2023.

Haynes said he was first approached about running for Congress after testifying against the GOP’s redistricting push at hearings in Arlington and Austin in July. In the days leading up to the Dec. 8 filing deadline, as Crockett remained publicly mum about her plans, Haynes said he began hearing from more people encouraging him to run — an effort that spilled into public view with a website encouraging voters to “draft” Haynes for Congress.

Two days before the deadline to get on the 2026 ballot, Haynes spoke to Warnock, who told the Dallas pastor he had run for Senate several years ago because he had felt a calling to serve in politics. In the final 48 hours of the filing period, Haynes said he prayed about the decision, and ultimately decided on the day of the deadline to file.

That same day, he appeared at Crockett’s Senate launch event; in turn, Crockett filmed a video in support of Haynes that he played at his own launch event this week. In the video, she said Haynes, despite never having been elected to office before, has “been at this fight at every level” and “knows what it’s going to take to win, to lead, to govern.”

While Haynes has provided Crockett with spiritual guidance, he said their roles have now somewhat reversed as she offers him campaign pointers. 

“Even though I’ve been with her during her previous campaigns, I never paid attention with a view toward, okay, I’ll be doing this one day,” Haynes said. “And so she’s been really helpful in that regard. She has been very encouraging about my prospects of serving and serving well.”

The seat is safely blue, but Haynes will have to make it out of a primary against two lesser-known Democrats, pastor Rodney LaBruce and former state Rep. Barbara Mallory Carroway.

Besides Crockett, Haynes has been endorsed by state Rep. Chris Turner, D-Grand Prairie, Tarrant County Commissioner Alisa Simmons and Johnson’s son, Kirk, who said at Haynes’ launch event that Haynes was like an adopted son to his mother, and she would have encouraged voters to support him.

U.S. Rep. Marc Veasey, D-Fort Worth, also considered running after the seat he currently represents was dismantled by Republicans. But Veasey, one of Texas’ longest-tenured members from either party, ultimately decided against a bid.

If Haynes wins, he will join a Democratic delegation from Texas that, due to redistricting, will include fewer members and a crop of freshmen. Under the current boundaries, 12 of Texas’ 38 House districts are represented by Democrats, with a 13th set to join their ranks after a special election between two Democratic candidates at the end of the month. The new GOP map was drawn to narrow the number of blue seats to as little as eight, while forcing some veteran Democrats into retirement or difficult matchups against younger challengers. 

Haynes said it will be critical for the remaining Texas Democrats in Congress to organize cohesively for future elections.

“We have to play chess,” he said. “And a part of playing chess is looking not just to what happens this year, but what’s going to happen in ‘28 and what will happen in 2030. And that’s what I try to bring — a long-term vision so that we can turn this thing around and make some changes that will benefit the people I know.”

Congress already has a handful of ordained members, including Warnock. Haynes said there is overlap between the skills required for pastoral and public service, including listening, organizing and offering people a vision.

If elected, he said he plans to focus on lowering the cost of health care, housing, child care and college. 

“The sad reality is that most in District 30, for example, are one crisis away from economic disaster,” Haynes said. “And that has to do with the fact that, sadly, what many people are making does not keep up with inflation. And so we have to rethink what a living wage is, as opposed to talking about minimum wage.”

Haynes also expressed an interest in using congressional oversight powers to investigate what he sees as ethical violations by the Trump administration. If Democrats take the House majority in 2026, party leaders could compel Trump administration figures to testify before Congress and use subpoena power to investigate government agencies, from ICE conduct to the president and his family’s business dealings. 

Crockett has garnered national attention for her questioning of witnesses on the House Oversight Committee, the accountability-focused panel that counts many of the party’s rising stars as members.

“We have a president and a Congress that run roughshod over the law, over ethics,” Haynes said. “Congress is supposed to — in their job description — hold the executive branch accountable, and that has not been done. And so that is a part of my ‘why’ for running for Congress.”

Haynes took a medical leave of absence from Friendship-West last fall after having surgery on his prostate in September. He said he is in better shape now and is fit to run. 

The health of congressional hopefuls is under a microscope more than ever this cycle, with both parties recently affected by the deaths and medical absences of members in a narrowly divided House. Two Texas Democrats have died in office in the past two years.

“I am healthier today than I was before surgery, and I’m healthier this year than I was at this time last year,” Haynes said.