Two months ahead of the November elections, the State Freedom Caucus Network held its first-ever national summit, bringing together far-right legislators from several states to meet with representatives from Trump-aligned groups in the Conservative Partnership Institute orbit.
The State Freedom Caucus Network was established in 2021 with help from former chief of staff for President Donald Trump Mark Meadows as a way to replicate the House Freedom Caucus in state legislatures. With the formation of the Oklahoma Freedom Caucus earlier this month, the group now has an official presence in the legislatures of twelve states.
An estimated 200 state Freedom Caucus legislators, plus members of the U.S. House Freedom Caucus and representatives from Conservative Partnership Institute (CPI), convened in Dallas, Texas from September 6-8 for the group’s first annual summit. The groups that came together at the summit have been key players in Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election result, resist Democratic policies to ease voting access, and train conservative activists to serve as poll watchers.
According to an itinerary filed with the U.S. House Clerk, the summit included sessions on communications strategies, the budget-making process, building coalitions with outside groups, and more. Most sessions featured State Freedom Caucus Network (SFCN) President Andrew Roth, a longtime staffer of the conservative Club for Growth and former executive director of the group’s foundation arm. Senators J.D. Vance and Ted Cruz were invited to present, according to the filing, and a networking hour featured a presentation by CPI Chairman Jim DeMint. The session on coalitions included the right-wing media outlet PragerU. Elections and voting policy matters were not mentioned on the itinerary.
The chairman of the Arizona Freedom Caucus, Sen. Jake Hoffman, was indicted by a grand jury over the summer for his role in the attempted fake elector scheme to install Trump as president after he lost the 2020 election to President Joe Biden. On January 5, 2021, Hoffman emailed Vice President Mike Pence to ask him to “delay certification of the election results and instead seek clarification from the Arizona legislature as to which slate of Presidential electors is proper and accurate.” Hoffman was one of 11 Republicans who signed a document fraudulently claiming that they were "duly elected and qualified" electors, as did Arizona Freedom Caucus member Sen. Anthony Kern, who was also indicted.
