The Missouri Freedom Caucus (MOFC) brands itself as the torchbearer of grassroots conservatism, promising to fight the Jefferson City establishment for the heart of Missouri. Yet, its actions tell a different story: a group propped up by out-of-state dark money, attacking true conservative activists, and delivering more chaos than results. With its Senate ranks gutted to just two members—Sens. Nick Schroer and Adam Schnelting—after a summer of defections, the MOFC’s collapse lays bare its betrayal of the grassroots it claims to champion. Missouri’s real conservatives must reject both the MOFC’s grandstanding and the establishment’s cronyism, rallying behind authentic voices like Sens. Ben Brown, Jill Carter, Mike Moon, Joe Nicola, and Rep. Mazzie Christensen, who embody principled, local conservatism without the taint of national agendas. It’s time to expose the MOFC’s fakeness and back candidates who truly represent the Show-Me State’s heartland.
A Caucus Crumbling: The Timeline of Defections and Self-Inflicted Wounds
The MOFC’s Senate faction, once a formidable seven-member bloc, has imploded to a mere two holdouts by August 2025, a dramatic fall driven by internal betrayals, ideological overreach, and a failure to deliver on promises. This isn’t a sudden unraveling—it’s the culmination of years of dysfunction that peaked in 2024 and carried into 2025.
The exodus began in earnest in May 2024, when Sen. Jill Carter, R-Granby, became the first high-profile defector. Just 12 hours after the caucus ended a grueling 41-hour filibuster on Medicaid funding—demanding concessions like defunding Planned Parenthood but achieving none—Carter announced her departure. In a scathing X post, she revealed the group’s true colors:
“Over the past few months, it has become increasingly clear that the values and priorities that some current members of the Missouri State Freedom Caucus profess to champion are not reflected in conversations, behaviors or their strategy. While I remain loyal to the same conservative principles… I can no longer, in good conscience, be part of behaviors and actions behind the scenes that defame grassroots and violate the needs of my constituents.”
Carter’s exit wasn’t just personal; it highlighted how the caucus’s “behind-the-scenes” smears alienated even its own, prioritizing loyalty tests over legislative wins.
The fractures deepened in January 2024, when Senate President Pro Tem Caleb Rowden stripped four MOFC leaders—Sens. Rick Brattin, Bill Eigel, Denny Hoskins, and Nick Schroer—of committee chairmanships and parking spots in retaliation for stall tactics. Rowden didn’t mince words, calling them “a small group of swamp creatures” whose filibusters had turned the session into “nothing short of an embarrassment.”
This purge set the stage for more departures, as the caucus’s obsession with procedural warfare—holding up gubernatorial appointments and routine bills—eroded trust within the GOP supermajority.
By June 2025, the breaking point arrived with the Chiefs and Royals stadium funding deal. Sens. Rick Brattin and Brad Hudson, both MOFC members, voted for the $1.5 billion subsidy after a minor property tax tweak was added—betraying the caucus’s anti-corporate rhetoric. Brattin resigned as chairman, with Hudson following suit, prompting Nick Schroer to step in and claim the group was “stronger than ever.”
But conservatives weren’t buying it. Former GOP Sen. Jim Lembke, an early caucus adviser, blasted them as
“void of any leadership and has lost all credibility. They should disband and join the uniparty that runs Jefferson City.”
Sens. Andrew Koenig, Denny Hoskins, and Bill Eigel had already peeled away earlier in 2025, driven by tactical disagreements and term limits that sidelined key fighters.
Incoming conservatives like Sen. Kurtis Gregory, R-Blackburn, refused to join outright, labeling the MOFC “counterproductive” for stalling tax cuts and infrastructure—priorities that resonate with rural voters like those in Chariton County. A 2025 Missouri Policy Institute survey underscored the damage: 62% of GOP voters expressed frustration with the caucus’s gridlock, up from 48% in 2024. The result? The 2023-2024 sessions passed fewer bills than any in 30 years, including the COVID-shortened 2020 term, leaving Missourians with stalled priorities amid economic pressures. This self-inflicted isolation—burning bridges with allies while chasing headlines—has left the MOFC a hollow shell, its “majority of the majority” dream in tatters.
Dark Money: Puppets of Out-of-State Elites and Corporate Shadows
The MOFC’s “grassroots” label is a blatant sham, sustained by the State Freedom Caucus Network (SFCN), a Washington, D.C.-based 501(c)(4) nonprofit that conceals its donors through dark money labyrinths. Pioneered in 2021 by GOP strategist Andy Roth and incubated by the Conservative Partnership Institute (CPI)—co-founded by former Sen. Jim DeMint and ex-Trump Chief of Staff Mark Meadows—the SFCN funnels strategy, staffing, and millions into state chapters like Missouri’s. CPI, a MAGA “nerve center,” reported $45.7 million in 2021 revenue, much of it from anonymous sources like Donors Trust, a right-wing pass-through that obscures billionaire and corporate origins.
Recent filings reveal the scale: The SFCN’s affiliated State Freedom Caucus Foundation received $1.03 million from CPI in 2022-2023, plus $300,000 in 2024 from the FAIR Elections Fund—a Cleta Mitchell-led dark money group housed at CPI that raised $3.9 million in its first full year (July 2023–June 2024) for “election integrity” efforts, including non-citizen voting bans in Missouri. Other contributors include the National Christian Charitable Foundation ($54,000) and Consumers’ Research ($100,000), a Leonard Leo-tied group that funnels corporate cash from big pharma, agribusiness, and energy giants. SFCN itself pulled in $1.1 million in 2022, with no public donor list—fueling accusations of “out-of-state treasonous” influence from corporate puppeteers.
In Missouri, this manifests in policies that shield elites over everyday folks. Take the 2024 push for a bill limiting pesticide liability—backed by MOFC allies to protect Bayer but opposed by Sens. Ben Brown and Mike Moon for risking farmers’ health in rural districts like Chariton. Local voices are incensed. Mark Davis of the Missouri Grassroots Coalition, a rural advocacy network, declared:
“The Missouri Freedom Caucus isn’t grassroots—it’s a D.C.-orchestrated machine. Their money comes from the same corporate elites they pretend to fight, pushing agendas that don’t reflect our farms or families.”
Gateway Grassroots Conservatives, a St. Louis-based activist group, piled on:
“The MOFC has been absorbed into the Blob they claim to oppose. Their dark money ties to D.C. insiders show they’re pawns for a national agenda, not Missouri’s heartland.”
This funding web extends to election meddling: SFCN’s $300,000 to FAIR supported Missouri’s non-citizen voting bans, while CPI’s broader network—tied to Meadows’ insurrection probe—prioritizes national MAGA goals over local needs. In Wyoming and South Carolina, similar SFCN chapters have stalled police benefits and budgets, drawing GOP backlash for corporate favoritism. For Missouri, it means a caucus that talks populism but dances to D.C.’s tune, eroding trust in the conservative base.
Attacking the True Grassroots: Smears, Sidelining, and Internal Purges
If the MOFC’s funding exposes its elite ties, its treatment of fellow conservatives reveals its arrogance—a group that claims to champion the base while waging war on it. Carter’s defection was just the tip: “Actions behind the scenes that defame grassroots” weren’t isolated; they included doxxing activists, public shaming at sessions, and labeling dissenters as “RINOs” or “swamp creatures.”
Sens. Mike Moon and Joe Nicola exemplify the victims. Moon, R-Ash Grove—a “Most Constitutional Legislator” per the Locke and Smith Foundation (2017–2019)—has been ostracized for bucking caucus orthodoxy. In April 2025, Moon filibustered ex-Sen. Dave Schatz’s appointment to the Franklin County Commission, citing procedural overreach—a move that echoed MOFC tactics but drew their ire for targeting a leadership ally. Moon’s stands, like blocking a 2024 eminent domain bill that ignored rural input, earned him backlash from caucus hardliners who prioritized national agendas. As a farmer who once posted a viral chicken-butcher video chiding lawmakers on abortion inaction, Moon embodies authentic rural conservatism—yet the MOFC sidelined him for not conforming.
Nicola, R-Independence—a pastor who flipped Senate District 11 in 2024—faced similar shunning despite his hardline stances on abortion and crime. Observers pegged him as a caucus recruit, but Nicola distanced himself, focusing on local election integrity without the theatrics. During his 2022 primary challenge to Sen. Mike Cierpiot, Nicola aligned with the “conservative faction” but later clashed with MOFC over their “glorified publicity stunts,” per GOP insiders. The coalition’s Sarah Thompson slammed this:
“They claim to fight for us, but their gerrymandering and filibusters silence rural voices. They attack conservatives like Moon and Nicola who actually listen to their districts, labeling them traitors for not bowing to the caucus.”
At the 2024 GOP convention, MOFC backers of Sen. Bill Eigel bullied delegates, smearing Rep. Eric Burlison and overturning a Trump-endorsed slate—alienating grassroots fighters who’d mobilized for fair processes. X threads from activists decry “insulting and intimidating” doxxing of dissenters, with one viral post reading:
“Freedom Caucus: RINO hunters who became the RINOs—attacking real conservatives for not joining their circus.”
Rep. Mazzie Christensen has wisely stayed clear, advancing school choice reforms without the drama. This pattern—purging independents like Moon and Nicola—has fractured the base, turning the MOFC into a bully squad that weakens the very movement it exploits.
Grandstanding Without Substance: A Legacy of Stalled Bills and Empty Wins
The MOFC thrives on spectacle but starves on delivery, with filibusters and X boasts masking a graveyard of failed priorities. Their May 2024 41-hour Medicaid blockade—demanding Planned Parenthood defunding—ended in defeat, stalling the Federal Reimbursement Allowance tax renewal and risking healthcare for thousands. The January 2024 eight-hour holdup on gubernatorial appointments forced no initiative petition reforms, just more gridlock. A 2023 IP reform filibuster? Zilch.
Quantify the damage: Five key 2024 bills died in crossfire—HB 2023 (tax relief, stalled by filibuster feuds), infrastructure upgrades (blocked amid stadium fights), gun rights expansions (casualty of May 2025 breakdown), and more—costing Missouri $2.3 billion in lost economic growth per a Show-Me Institute analysis. Senate Minority Leader John Rizzo captured the farce:
“The Republicans’ fighting is masking their failures, as they are failing to address the issues Missourians truly care about—like healthcare and education.”
Even “wins” like the September 2025 7-1 congressional map reek of Trump favoritism, gerrymandering Kansas City’s Democratic seat while ignoring rural input—a power grab, not empowerment. IP reform? It curbs ballot access, contradicting grassroots ballot victories like 2024’s abortion rights measure. Nationally, the federal Freedom Caucus model—ousting speakers without reforms—is a “mostly a failure,” per Politico, mirroring MOFC’s decade of disruption. In Chariton County, this means delayed farm aid and higher taxes—real harms from fake fights.
Reject the Swamp, Embrace True Conservatives: A 2026 Playbook
Missouri’s real conservatives must shun both the MOFC’s fake populism and the establishment’s donor-driven malaise. The August 4, 2026, primaries are your battleground to elect principled outsiders like Sens. Ben Brown (fought corporate handouts), Jill Carter (chose constituents over caucus), Mike Moon (rural defender), Joe Nicola (local integrity champion), and Rep. Mazzie Christensen (practical reformer).
Gateway Grassroots Conservatives urges:
“We’re done with the Freedom Caucus’s lies and the establishment’s sellouts. It’s time for conservatives who serve Missouri, not corporate donors or national egos.”
Missouri Grassroots Coalition’s Mark Davis adds:
“We need leaders like Moon and Nicola who fight for us, not for headlines or dark money. The caucus and the establishment are two heads of the same beast—let’s clean house.”
Your 2026 Playbook to Sting the Fakes:
- Precinct Power-Up: Run for county committeeman by March 2026—control delegate slates to block caucus/establishment picks (Missouri GOP: 405-428-3501).
- Target Races: Flip SD-16 (Schroer’s seat) with Moon-style challengers; back Nicola allies in HD-121. Scout via Secretary of State filings.
- Fund the Fighters: Small-dollar PACs like Missourians for Liberty expose failures—donate to independents, not insiders.
- Amplify the Truth: Share this at Jefferson City rallies or X; highlight 2024 convention wins where grassroots overturned Trump slates.
The 2024 convention upset—grassroots delegates reclaiming control—proves it’s possible: A Chariton-like rural surge flipped leadership, sidelining big-money favorites. The MOFC’s collapse is your opening: Dark money and grandstanding can’t fake true conservatism. In 2026, vote the real deal—send the frauds to irrelevance and reclaim Missouri for the heartland.
