The hard-line House Freedom Caucus is poised to expand its ranks among Texas members after a successful primary season in which two challengers backed by the caucus’ political arm won primaries and a third candidate came close to an outright victory in a nine-way open race.
Tuesday was a rising night for the conservative group — often a thorn in the side of House Republican leadership — and its imprint on Texas’ congressional delegation. The Freedom Caucus could end up doubling the number of Texans on its roster in the next Congress, pushing the state’s delegation further to the right and adding reinforcements who appear willing to follow the group’s obstructionist tactics.
Known for its conservative, authoritarian approach and willingness to defy Republican leaders, the Freedom Caucus is made up of members of the House’s far right, often those who most strongly advocate spending cuts and restrictions on immigration. The group, which currently has 30 members, has shown a willingness to take a stand by using procedural means to block or at least block Republican-led bills.
There are currently four Texans in the Freedom Caucus. The group will lose one of its most outspoken members, Austin Republican Rep. Chip Roy, who amassed considerable power as a member of the House Rules Committee but gave up re-election to run for Texas attorney general.
But it is expected to gain support from state Rep. Steve Toth, who defeated Atascocita Rep. Dan Crenshaw, a Freedom Caucus critic. Toth is backed by the Freedom Caucus Fund, a political group that describes itself as “the only organization dedicated to defending and growing the House Freedom Caucus.” The Conroe Republican, who was a member of the House Freedom Caucus in the Texas Legislature, said he plans to join the U.S. House Freedom Caucus.
“I definitely want to join the Freedom Caucus in Washington, D.C.,” Toth said. “I’m going to be a strong voice. It’s smart to know when you have to compromise, but it’s also smart to know when to stand up and fight.”
Two other Freedom Caucus Fund-backed candidates — gun rights activist and YouTuber Brandon Herrera and conservative attorney Jess Yarbrough — finished first in their respective primaries while also advancing to the runoffs.
But Herrera will become the Republican nominee in his district after his potential runoff opponent, Rep. Tony Gonzalez, R-San Antonio, dropped out of the race Thursday night. Gonzalez’s departure came after it was revealed that he had an affair with an employee who committed suicide last year.
Overall, Tuesday was “a big night for Freedom Caucus Fund candidates,” Allison Weisenberg, executive director of the Freedom Caucus Fund, said in a statement to The Texas Tribune.
Removing Crenshaw would be an especially noteworthy coup for the group given his ongoing feud with members of the Freedom Caucus. In 2021, Crenshaw said there were “liars in the middle” of the Republican Party and noted that then-Illinois Rep. Adam Kinzinger, a leading critic of Trump on the right, voted for Trump’s agenda more frequently than the Freedom Caucus.
He later said Republican members who voted against Rep. Kevin McCarthy of California for the speakership in 2023 — many of whom are members of the House Freedom Caucus — were “terrorists,” though he apologized for that.
Weisenberg viewed Crenshaw’s defeat — she called him a “Republican in name only” — as a repudiation of that message.
“Republican voters know the Freedom Caucus is the conscience of congressional conservatives and remains committed to passing President Trump’s America First agenda,” Weisenberg said. “On Tuesday, Dan Crenshaw, who called the House Freedom Caucus ‘terrorists,’ discovered the ultimate consequence of Rino — defeat at the hands of a candidate backed by the Freedom Caucus Fund.”
Of course, the fourth-term congressman saw Todt’s victory differently. He blamed poor turnout and false attacks on him as the main reasons for his defeat.
Crenshaw said he’s concerned that Toth’s obstructionist tactics will result in less federal funding for the Houston area. He predicted Todt would oppose the funding package in Congress, a common tactic among members of the Freedom Caucus who are uncomfortable with spending levels.
“Steve Toth is not going to fund flood control for them,” Crenshaw said. “He would vote against every appropriations bill. When you do that, you don’t get anything for your district. It’s very similar to his record in the state House.”
The ideological gulf between Herrera and Gonzalez is even wider. Gonzalez is a more moderate Republican and a member of the bipartisan Problem Solvers Caucus, the most centrist of the party’s ideological factions. Gonzalez, like Crenshaw, has not been shy about expressing his distaste for some members of the House Freedom Caucus, at one point publicly denouncing some of his colleagues as “scumbags” and partisans. He also spoke out against the hard-line immigration bill Roe proposed a few years ago, saying it would actually have the “anti-American” and “un-Christian” effect of ending asylum.
Yarbrough, who is running in a North Texas seat that was redistricted by Republicans in a mid-decade round of redistricting to benefit his party, had a commanding lead in the primary, nearly hitting the 50 percent threshold for victory.
Additionally, three current Texas Freedom Caucus members running for re-election — Reps. Michael Cloud, Brandon Gill and Keith Self — all easily won their primaries.
“We look forward to the new members of the Texas delegation in the 120th Congress joining the House Freedom Caucus to fight for conservative American principles and help advance the president’s agenda,” Rep. Andy Harris, R-Md., chairman of the Freedom Caucus, said in a statement.
Primary defeats, redistricting and retirements will reshape the Texas delegation next year, especially with historic levels of turnover on the Republican side. The departing members are ideologically diverse, but their successors — political newcomers forged in the MAGA primaries that dominate Texas Republican politics today — are likely to move further to the right.
Some conservatives who were not initially supported by the Freedom Caucus Fund eventually joined the group after entering Congress — including themselves. With so many new faces joining the delegation, the Freedom Caucus may eventually outgrow its endorsed candidates.
Jon Bonck, a mortgage broker and Baptist deacon, received early support from Sen. Ted Cruz and was viewed as a potential ally, according to sources familiar with the caucus. But the fund did not endorse him or spend any money on his behalf.
Bunker finished first in the open primary for Texas’ 38th Congressional District, which encompasses the Houston Energy Corridor and northwest suburbs of Harris County; he narrowly missed out on an outright victory and entered the runoff with a 28-point advantage over his opponent, Shelly deZevallos, who trailed him by 28 points, according to unofficial results. Bunker has the support of several House Freedom Caucus members, including Gill and Ohio Republican Party founding chairman Jim Jordan.
One of the side effects of the far right’s primary success and the retirement of its members is the complete elimination of Texas Republicans who voted for the 2020 presidential election.
In 2021, within hours of the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol that year, the House voted to affirm Joe Biden’s victory, overcoming the objections of dozens of Republicans. At the time, 16 of the 23 House Republicans from Texas voted against certifying Pennsylvania’s election results. (Fifteen of the 16 — except Rep. Beth Van Duyne (R-Irving) — also voted against certifying Arizona’s electoral votes.)
Two Republican congressmen, Kevin Brady and Kay Granger, now retired, contracted COVID-19 and missed the vote.
Crenshaw and Gonzalez were among five Republicans who voted to pass. Among others, Rep. Van Taylor has retired, while Roy and Rep. Michael McCaul will leave at the end of their current terms.