Story highlights Ted Cruz does have friends in Washington -- members of the House Freedom Caucus, the conservative group of lawmakers responsible for ousting House Speaker John Boehner

Roughly two-thirds of Cruz's lawmaker endorsements come from Freedom Caucus members

Washington (CNN) There may only be one group of lawmakers that butts heads with the Washington establishment more than Texas Sen. Ted Cruz: His biggest supporters -- the House Freedom Caucus.

They're the conservative group responsible for ousting House Speaker John Boehner and the ones who agitate for Republicans to hold firm on budgets even as it throws the government into a shutdown. They relish their reputation as king slayers even as they downplay their status as the House's new powerbrokers. And they're the lawmakers happy to call Cruz a friend and happy to share the same enemies with him.

"He has lots of friends here," said Rep. Justin Amash of Michigan. "When you take on the establishment, it's easy to get the rap that you're not liked here. That's because there are a lot of people in party leadership who don't like you if you take them on."

It's not a reputation Cruz runs from. While front-runner Donald Trump has tried to paint Cruz as unlikeable and persona non grata in Washington, that's exactly the reputation Cruz has carefully crafted to appeal to his tea party base. Exit polling has shown an electorate overwhelmingly frustrated and angry with the federal government -- which is in part why the outsider Trump has soared to a strong lead in the election.

Cruz has built his campaign around being a senator who is not actually of Washington -- embracing Trump early in the campaign and spending his time in the Senate making life difficult for Republican leadership. But since Cruz won in Iowa, Trump has won three states in a row. Cruz is now trying to continue his outsider campaign while fending off the "unlikeable" attacks from Trump, the ultimate non-politician.

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