“State Rep. Steve Toth to problem Congressman Dan Crenshaw in Republican major” was first printed by The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan media group that informs Texans — and engages with them — about public coverage, politics, authorities and statewide points.
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State Rep. Steve Toth, a Conroe Republican aligned with the rightmost faction of the Texas Legislature, introduced a major problem to U.S. Rep. Dan Crenshaw on Tuesday, organising the state’s newest intra-party midterm conflict.
Toth, who’s serving his fifth time period within the Texas Home, is a part of a gaggle of hardline GOP lawmakers who’ve rebelled in opposition to their very own social gathering’s management, together with Gov. Greg Abbott, for being insufficiently conservative. Seen as one of many most conservative members of the 150-person chamber, Toth has overtly campaigned in opposition to his GOP colleagues, joined with the minority that voted in opposition to impeaching Lawyer Basic Ken Paxton and thrown himself in the midst of the Legislature’s quite a few partisan battles over social and cultural points.
Now, Toth has Crenshaw — a Houston Republican who has represented his Harris County-based district since 2019 — in his crosshairs.
“The folks of Congressional District 2 deserve an unwavering conservative who will battle for our convictions and by no means bend the knee to the unconventional left,” Toth mentioned in an announcement, citing Crenshaw’s help of Ukraine assist and previous feedback about far-right members of Congress.
Crenshaw has racked up a solidly conservative voting report in Congress whereas focusing his legislative efforts on commonplace GOP priorities, from border safety to barring federal funding for gender-affirming care.
However he has publicly sparred with the far-right Home Freedom Caucus and key motion figures like Tucker Carlson — a distinction he sees as being over the seriousness with which they take governance relatively than a stringent ideological dispute.
Crenshaw has referred to obstructionists within the conservative motion 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 an announcement, Crenshaw pointed to legislative victories together with securing flood mitigation funding for the Houston space, authorizing a examine into breakthrough therapies for veterans with traumatic mind accidents and efforts to tackle Mexican cartels.
He additionally accused Toth of dwelling outdoors the 2nd Congressional District, which was redrawn in 2021 and now covers greater than half the residents of Montgomery County.
“I haven’t got a lot to say about Steve Toth—as a result of there’s not a lot to say,” Crenshaw mentioned. “Whereas he was busy redrawing his residence outdoors of TX-02, I used to be working exhausting for the folks of TX-02.”
Montgomery County voter registration data point out that Toth’s Conroe house is within the neighboring eighth District. Members of Congress don’t have to dwell within the district they symbolize, although candidates who dwell outdoors the boundaries usually face assaults from their opponents.
Toth didn’t deny that he lives within the eighth District, however famous in an announcement that his Texas Home district overlaps virtually totally with Crenshaw’s congressional district.
“I do know this group, and I have been serving them for almost a decade,” he mentioned.
The district boundary might quickly change once more, with congressional redistricting on the agenda for the Legislature’s upcoming particular session.
Toth is by far the best-known major opponent Crenshaw has confronted in his profession. Proper-wing activist Jameson Ellis primaried Crenshaw in his previous two elections — dropping by 19 proportion factors final 12 months — however has mentioned he isn’t working once more this cycle.
The first problem is Toth’s second try to take down a sitting Republican member of Congress. In 2016, he challenged then-Rep. Kevin Brady, R-The Woodlands, pushing Brady to the bottom vote share of his 26-year congressional profession. Regardless of being outspent by over $1.4 million, Toth got here inside 20,000 votes of unseating Brady, successful 37% in a four-way race.
This text initially appeared in The Texas Tribune at https://www.texastribune.org/2025/07/15/steve-toth-dan-crenshaw-texas-republican-primary-congress/.
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