The State Freedom Caucus Network is a right-of-center advocacy group that helps establish what it calls “freedom caucuses” modeled on the House Freedom Caucus of Republican members of the U.S. House of Representatives in state legislatures across the country. ¹ By January 2025, 175 state legislators belonged to a state freedom caucus, according to the Associated Press. ²

The State Freedom Caucus Network has had staff directors for freedom caucuses in Arizona, Georgia, Illinois, Idaho, Louisiana, formerly Mississippi, in Maryland, Missouri, Montana, Oklahoma, South Dakota, South Carolina, and Wyoming. ³ The Mississippi Freedom Caucus later folded when most members either retired or ran for other offices, ⁴ and the Idaho Freedom Caucus split from the national State Freedom Caucus Network. ⁵

In several state legislatures, Republican Party leaders have clashed with state freedom caucus members, and removed them from committee chairmanships, revoked state capitol parking spots, and not allowed freedom caucus members to be part of the larger Republican legislative caucuses. ⁶

Background

The State Freedom Caucus Network advocates conservative policies at the state level and helps establish state freedom caucuses modeled on the House Freedom Caucus of Republican members of the U.S. House of Representatives in state legislatures across the country. The Network provides staff, research, and strategy. ¹

The State Freedom Caucus Network has had staff directors for freedom caucuses in Arizona, Georgia, Illinois, Idaho, Louisiana, Maryland, Missouri, Montana, Oklahoma, South Dakota, South Carolina, and Wyoming. ³ The Mississippi Freedom Caucus folded when most members either retired or ran for other offices. ⁴

By January 2025, 175 state legislators belonged to a state freedom caucus, which is up more than a quarter since before the 2024 elections, according to the Associated Press. ²

The organization says it is building on the success of the House Freedom Caucus in the U.S. House of Representatives, which has helped push Republican leadership in a more fiscally conservative direction on budget negotiations and other matters. ⁷ SFCN president Andy Roth said that the idea for the network came from state lawmakers interested in pursuing the “business model” of the House Freedom Caucus in Congress. ⁸

State caucuses are founded only by invitation from the national State Freedom Caucus Network. ⁴ The network pays the salaries of the state directors and staff who help legislators draft the bills and do policy analysis. ⁸

The State Freedom Caucus Network was launched in December 2021 in connection with the Conservative Partnership Institute. ⁸ Georgia was the first state to have a Freedom Caucus, which launched in December 2021. State Sen. Greg Dolezal (R-Cumming) was the first chair. Attending the launch event were 40 state legislators from Wyoming, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Indiana, South Dakota, Mississippi, Arizona, Iowa, Illinois, Texas, Alaska, Idaho, and Nevada, who aspired to start a caucus in their own states. ⁹Former Trump White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, a former U.S. Representative from North Carolina who co-founded the House Freedom Caucus, headlined the Georgia State Freedom Caucus inaugural gala in 2021. ¹⁰

Initiatives

The State Freedom Caucus Network has three main initiatives. One is an educational arm to train lawmakers. Another is recruiting conservatives at the state level to be part of the network. The third is an “action” arm to help protect conservatives from retaliation in primaries and to expand numbers of freedom caucus members in state legislatures. ¹¹

As of March 2025, Maryland was the 13^th and most recent state to launch a freedom caucus. U.S. Rep. Andy Harris (R-MD), the state’s lone Republican member of Congress, joined state legislators in January 2025 in Annapolis to announce the launch of the Maryland Freedom Caucus, to be led by Delegate Matt Morgan. ¹² The caucus began with seven members. ¹³

The network hopes to promote members to run for Congress. Roth, who previously worked for the conservative Club for Growth, used to interview Republican primary congressional candidates for endorsements. But he said, “The only question that these groups need to ask these candidates is if you’re in the state legislature, were you a Freedom Caucus member or were you not.” ¹⁴

The organization held its first national summit in September 2024 in Dallas, Texas. ¹⁴

Leadership

Andrew Roth is the president of the State Freedom Caucus Network. Previously, Roth worked 18 years at the Club for Growth and the Club for Growth Foundation, and was the foundation’s executive director. Prior to that, he was a securities trader in Omaha, Nebraska. Roth was formerly the owner and publisher for Iron Fist of Capitalism, a pro-free market website. ³

Justin Ouimette is the senior vice president of the network. He previously worked in several senior staff roles for the House Freedom Caucus including executive director, policy director, and legislative director. ³

Cesar Ybarra is vice president of government affairs for the network. Previously, he was the policy director for the House Freedom Caucus. He is a former vice president of policy at FreedomWorks, the campaign manager and legislative director for U.S. Rep. Andy Biggs (R-AZ), and a legislative correspondent for former Rep. Matt Salmon (R-AZ). ³

Dana Craycroft is the vice president of development for the network. She was previously the Texas finance director for U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) on his presidential and senatorial campaigns. ³

Sara Prinzi is the senior director of development of the network. She was previously the vice president of development at PragerU. ³

Blake Bassham is the research director for the network. He was previously the Georgia legislative director for the State Freedom Caucus Network. Before that, he worked in several campaign roles, including political director, district manager, and campaign manager. ³

Tim Huelskamp is a senior adviser for the State Freedom Caucus Network. He formerly was a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Kansas and chaired the Tea Party Caucus. He was a member of the House Freedom Caucus and was whip for the Pro-Life Caucus. Before that, he served in the Kansas Legislature. ³

Policy Activities

The State Freedom Caucus Network has prioritized state issues such as school choice, election integrity, and opposing critical race theory. ¹¹ In some states, freedom caucus lawmakers pushed restrictions on sex changes for minors and for National Guard troops to be sent to the Texas-Mexico border. ⁴

In 2022, the Mississippi Freedom Caucus helped defeat a bill to create an inter-state economic development agency, which conservatives worried would levy taxes and seize property through eminent domain without accountability to voters. ¹¹

The freedom caucuses in Mississippi and South Dakota pushed the state attorneys general to exit the National Association of Attorneys General because of the organization’s support for ESG investing. ¹⁵

Arizona Freedom Caucus members led a drive that resulted in the state board of education delaying a proposed new handbook governing how parents use state-funded educational savings accounts to send their kids to private schools. The new handbook would have tightened rules for using the accounts. ⁶

The South Carolina Freedom Caucus members used the state budget process to bring up issues such as diversity initiatives in universities, spoke out against government handouts to private companies, and pushed for bans on sex changes for minors. ⁸

The Pennsylvania Freedom Caucus sued accusing Democratic politicians, including President Joe Biden and Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro (D) of unconstitutionally usurping power from the legislature to run elections. But a federal judge dismissed the lawsuit. ⁶

The Montana Freedom Caucus’s petition in 2024 to call a special session on property tax relief fell short. ⁴

Clash With State Republican Leadership

Wyoming is the first state where Freedom Caucus members captured a majority in a legislative chamber, taking a majority of the state House of Representatives in 2024. Freedom Caucus members previously took on a more confrontational role. The state Senate is still controlled by moderate Republicans, and Gov. Mark Gordon (R) has clashed with the caucus in the past. ²

Missouri Republican Senate leaders stripped four Freedom Caucus members, including Freedom Caucus Chair Sen. Rick Brattin (R-Harrisonville), of their committee chairmanships. In 2024, the Missouri Freedom Caucus had at least six Senators and a dozen House members. Tim Jones, a former Missouri House speaker, is the state director of the Freedom Caucus. The leadership also revoked the parking spots of Missouri Freedom Caucus members. ⁶

Republican legislative leaders in Idaho ousted some Idaho Freedom Caucus members from committee leadership in 2023. ⁶ In September 2024, the Idaho Freedom Caucus split from the national State Freedom Caucus Network. In a statement, the Idaho Freedom Caucus said: “the majority of IFC members lost trust in the state director, as the appointed individual was more aligned with the SFCN than Caucus members, making the ongoing situation untenable.” ⁵

South Carolina Republican leaders removed Freedom Caucus members from Republican caucus functions for refusing to sign a loyalty oath pledging not to campaign against other Republican members of the Legislature. ⁶

Georgia Senate Republican leaders removed one Freedom Caucus member, Sen. Colton Moore (R-Trenton), from the party caucus for conducting a public relations campaign to pressure colleagues into impeaching Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis (D) for indicting then-former President Donald Trump in an election case. ⁴

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