The hardline House Freedom Caucus is poised to swell its ranks among Texas members after a successful primary season in which two challengers backed by the group’s political arm won their primaries and a third candidate nearly won outright in a nine-way open race.Tuesday was an ascendant night for the conservative group — often a thorn in the side of House GOP leadership — and its imprint on Texas’ congressional delegation. The Freedom Caucus could end up doubling the number of Texans on its roster come next Congress, pushing the state’s delegation further to the right and adding reinforcements who appear willing to follow the group’s obstructionist playbook.Known for its conservative absolutist approach and willingness to defy GOP leaders, the Freedom Caucus encompasses the most right-wing members of the House, typically those who are the loudest advocates for cutting spending and restricting immigration. The group, which currently numbers 30 members, has demonstrated a willingness to take stands by using procedural maneuvers to tank, or at least hold up, Republican-led bills.Currently, the Freedom Caucus counts four Texans among its ranks. The bloc is set to lose one of its most outspoken members in Rep. Chip Roy, R-Austin, who amassed considerable power as a member of the House Rules Committee but is forsaking reelection to run for Texas attorney general.But it stands to gain the membership of state Rep. Steve Toth, who defeated Atascosita Rep. Dan Crenshaw, a Freedom Caucus critic. Toth was backed by Freedom Caucus Fund, a political group that brands itself as “the only organization solely dedicated to defending and growing the House Freedom Caucus.” The Conroe Republican, who was a member of the Texas House Freedom Caucus in the Legislature, said he plans to join the U.S. House version."I would like to join the Freedom Caucus in D.C., absolutely,” Toth said. “I'm going to be a strong voice. There's wisdom in knowing when you've got to compromise, but there's wisdom in knowing when to stand and fight.”And two other Freedom Caucus Fund endorsed candidates — gun rights activist and YouTuber Brandon Herrera and conservative attorney Jace Yarbrough — finished first in their respective primaries while advancing to runoffs.But Herrera will be the Republican nominee in his district after his would-be runoff opponent, Rep. Tony Gonzales, R-San Antonio, dropped out of the race Thursday night. Gonzales’ exit came after the revelation that he had an affair with a staffer who died by suicide last year.Taken together, Tuesday was a “big night for Freedom Caucus Fund candidates,” said Allison Weisenberger, the executive director of the Freedom Caucus Fund, in a statement to The Texas Tribune.Taking out Crenshaw was an especially notable coup for the group, given his ongoing feud with Freedom Caucus members. In 2021, Crenshaw said the Republican Party had “grifters in our midst” and noted that then-Illinois Rep. Adam Kinzinger, a chief Trump critic on the right, voted in favor of the Trump agenda more frequently than the Freedom Caucus.He later said that GOP members who in 2023 voted against California Rep. Kevin McCarthy’s speakership — many of whom were members of the House Freedom Caucus — were “terrorists”, though he apologized for doing so.Weisenberger cast the defeat of Crenshaw — who she labeled a “Republican in Name Only” — as a repudiation of that message.“Republican voters know the Freedom Caucus to be the conservative conscience of Congress, always fighting to pass President Trump's America First agenda,” Weisenberger said. “On Tuesday, Dan Crenshaw, who called the House Freedom Caucus 'terrorists,' found out the final consequence for being a RINO — defeat at the hands of a Freedom Caucus Fund-endorsed candidate.” The fourth-term congressman, of course, sees Toth’s win differently. He faulted poor turnout and false attacks on him as the main culprits behind his loss. Crenshaw said he is worried that Toth’s embrace of obstructionist tactics will result in fewer federal dollars for the Houston-area district. He predicted Toth will oppose funding packages in Congress, a common tactic for Freedom Caucus members upset by spending levels.“Steve Toth will not get them flood mitigation funding,” Crenshaw said. “He’ll vote against every appropriations bill. And when you’re like that, you don’t get anything for your district. Very similar to his record in the state House.”The ideological gulf is even wider between Herrera and Gonzales, a more moderate Republican who is a member of the most centrist of the party’s ideological factions, the bipartisan Problem Solvers’ Caucus. Gonzales, like Crenshaw, was not shy about expressing his distaste for some members of the House Freedom Caucus, publicly blasting some of his colleagues as “scumbags” and klansmen at one point.