State Rep. Steve Toth, a Conroe Republican aligned with the rightmost faction of the Texas Legislature, announced a primary challenge to U.S. Rep. Dan Crenshaw on Tuesday, setting up the state’s latest intra-party midterm clash.
Toth, who is serving his fifth term in the Texas House, is part of a group of hardline GOP lawmakers who have rebelled against their own party’s leadership, including Gov. Greg Abbott, for being insufficiently conservative. Seen as one of the most conservative members of the 150-person chamber, Toth has openly campaigned against his GOP colleagues, joined with the minority that voted against impeaching Attorney General Ken Paxton and thrown himself in the middle of the Legislature’s numerous partisan battles over social and cultural issues.
Now, Toth has Crenshaw — a Houston Republican who has represented his Harris County-based district since 2019 — in his crosshairs.
“The people of Congressional District 2 deserve an unwavering conservative who will fight for our convictions and never bend the knee to the radical left,” Toth said in a statement, citing Crenshaw’s support of Ukraine aid and past comments about far-right members of Congress.
But he has publicly sparred with the far-right House Freedom Caucus and key movement figures like Tucker Carlson — a difference he sees as being over the seriousness with which they take governance rather than a stringent ideological dispute.
Crenshaw has referred to obstructionists in the conservative movement as “grifters” and expressed frustration with right-wing members of Congress who ousted then-Speaker Kevin McCarthy and falsely claimed that the 2020 election was stolen.
In a statement, Crenshaw pointed to legislative victories including securing flood mitigation funding for the Houston area, authorizing a study into breakthrough therapies for veterans with traumatic brain injuries and efforts to take on Mexican cartels.
He also accused Toth of living outside the 2nd Congressional District, which was redrawn in 2021 and now covers more than half the residents of Montgomery County.
“I don’t have much to say about Steve Toth—because there’s not much to say,” Crenshaw said. “While he was busy redrawing his home outside of TX-02, I was working hard for the people of TX-02.”
Montgomery County voter registration records indicate that Toth’s Conroe home is in the neighboring 8th District. Members of Congress do not have to live in the district they represent, though candidates who live outside the boundaries often face attacks from their opponents.
Toth did not deny that he lives in the 8th District, but noted in a statement that his Texas House district overlaps almost entirely with Crenshaw’s congressional district.
“I know this community, and I’ve been serving them for nearly a decade,” he said.
The district boundary could soon change again, with congressional redistricting on the agenda for the Legislature’s upcoming special session.
Toth is by far the best-known primary opponent Crenshaw has faced in his career. Right-wing activist Jameson Ellis primaried Crenshaw in his past two elections — losing by 19 percentage points last year — but has said he is not running again this cycle.
The primary challenge is Toth’s second attempt to take down a sitting Republican member of Congress. In 2016, he challenged then-Rep. Kevin Brady, R-The Woodlands, pushing Brady to the lowest vote share of his 26-year congressional career. Despite being outspent by over $1.4 million, Toth came within 20,000 votes of unseating Brady, winning 37% in a four-way race.
Source: Texas Tribune BY Gaby Birenbaum
Photo: Credit: The Texas Tribune
