A candidate in a competitive legislative race faced backlash on social media after resurfaced videos showed her making anti-abortion statements and seemingly agreeing with assertions that non-Christian religions are witchcraft.
Katy Cornell, of Gig Harbor, is running for an open House position in the 26th Legislative District and is a founding pastor at SOZO Church in Belfair, Mason County.
Cornell told The Seattle Times she is “not running to be anyone’s pastor” and that she will represent every constituent, regardless of their faith or political views. On her campaign website, Cornell says that she is running as a “common-sense Republican.
In a July interview with the "City Quake Podcast," Cornell’s husband and co-pastor, Tom Cornell, said he removed “several thousand” videos from YouTube and the church's website of the couple’s sermons. He said he worried the recordings were being taken out of context as Katy Cornell runs for office.
When asked, she did not say which videos were taken out of context.
Several now-deleted videos were posted to Bluesky by a group opposing Christian nationalism. Christian nationalism is an ideology that seeks to merge Christianity with American politics.
Cornell denied online accusations that she is a Christian nationalist, saying she doesn’t believe that the government “should establish or enforce Christianity or any other religion.”
“I believe in limited government, individual liberty and protecting everyone’s constitutional rights,” she said.
In an email, the owner of the Bluesky group's page, who asked to remain anonymous out of safety concerns, said they live in the 26th District and started looking closely into Cornell's videos in January. As they worked to save videos of the sermons, they noticed videos began to disappear if they had Cornell's name attached to them, prompting the page owner to save them.
In one now-deleted video, Cornell speaks to the congregation about abortion, calling it murder and a sin, including in instances of rape.
https://bsky.app/profile/localfascistfinder.bsky.social/post/3myazopglzk24
Cornell said in an email that while her opposition to abortion is rooted in her faith, she would “respect the will of the people and the initiative process.” In 1991, Washington voters approved the Reproductive Privacy Act, which added protections for abortion services, through the initiative process.
“My focus is on supporting women and families with compassion, expanding adoption opportunities, helping single mothers and addressing the circumstances that leave women feeling they have no other option,” Cornell said. “We need to focus on moving Washington forward, not continually revisiting the past.”
In another video posted to social media, Cornell’s husband says during a sermon that “anyone trying to communicate with gods or God outside of Jesus Christ is doing witchcraft," at which point she nods her head and says "yes."
https://bsky.app/profile/localfascistfinder.bsky.social/post/3mq3qqclp722d
Cornell did not respond directly to questions about that particular video.
Cornell is competing with Democratic candidate Renee Hernandez Greenfield in the November general election.
Hernandez Greenfield told The Times she found both the videos and the decision to delete them "troublesome" and "concerning." She said that given some of the videos Cornell has left online, it is "hard to imagine how bad the things she's deleting are."
"Our community is diverse and expansive, and the legislator is responsible for being sure we're connecting with all communities," she said.
Chris Vance, the former chair of the Washington State Republican Party, described endorsements Cornell received from Republican organizations as "politically inexcusable," and said party leaders should have vetted Cornell more carefully.
"If you've got a candidate running in a race that you don't care about, that you're not targeting, things like that can happen," Vance said. "But this was one of their very top races — their most important races — so they should not be caught off guard or surprised."
It is not clear if the House Republican Organizational Committee, which endorsed Cornell, is aware of the now-deleted videos, as the committee did not respond to a request for comment.
The Pierce County Republican Party also endorsed Cornell in the race. In an interview, Pierce County GOP Chair Dave McMullen said he was not aware that Cornell had deleted videos, but said he is "very much in tune" with her and knows what Cornell preaches about at church.
McMullen said he believed Cornell's beliefs are similar to "many other people" in the state and added that he knows "for a fact" that Cornell has no intention of challenging the constitutionality of abortion. He declined to comment on the video of Cornell agreeing with her husband that non-Christian religions are practicing witchcraft.
"I hear so much stuff that's just absolute crap that I have no comment on something like that, McMullen said.
The House Republican Organizational Committee has donated more than $140,000 to Cornell's campaign. The Pierce County GOP has donated $9,500. In total Cornell has raised more than $422,000, while Hernandez Greenfield has raised over $348,000.
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