State Rep. Steve Toth thoroughly defeated incumbent U.S. Rep. Dan Crenshaw for the GOP nomination in Texas’s 2nd Congressional District, which puts him in a prime position to end up the representative for the Houston-area seat. Toth took a wide lead in the primary race on March 17, 2026, as the results of the vote rolled in, boldly proclaiming his victory several hours before The Associated Press officially called the race.
Now, Toth is getting in digs at Crenshaw and vowing to actually follow through on his promises to voters, a clear and sharp rebuke over the way that Rep. Crenshaw has promised to be a conservative and represent his constituents, but then has been much more of a neo-conservative than MAGA Republican once in office.
“Congressional District 2 voters want a representative in D.C. who will stand firm in his convictions, fight for his constituents, and follow through on his promises. I won’t let them down,” Toth said in a news release, getting in that sharp dig at Crenshaw. In previous races, Crenshaw more or less slid right on through the primary, often taking double-digit leads.
Surprisingly, Toth’s win comes despite the fact that Crenshaw raised $1.3 million more than Toth. The good news for those on the right, according to a report from the Texas Tribune, is that Toth is considered to be one of the most conservative members in the Texas GOP. On numerous occasions, he has raised questions about the commitment of party leadership and the values of Republican Gov. Gregg Abbott.
The report also said that Toth cleverly framed the race as a referendum on the future of the GOP. His efforts were supported by top-ranking Republicans such as Sen. Ted Cruz and Turning Point Action. Crenshaw, a former Navy SEAL who is currently serving his fourth term in office, has lost popularity over the last few years, most notably for supporting red flag gun laws.
But that is only scratching the surface. Along with supporting gun control legislation, which many feel violates the Second Amendment, the Texas Republican has also been accused by critics on the right of not being loyal to President Donald Trump. His disloyalty to the president ultimately cost him Trump’s endorsement.
During the 2020 presidential election, when a lot of conservative folks were calling for investigations into shady practices at the polls, Crenshaw came out against them and even accused them of lying. “It was always a lie. The whole thing was always a lie. And it was a lie meant to rile people up,” Crenshaw said, slamming some of his peers as “political personalities” instead of “politicians,” according to another report from the Texas Tribune from 2022.
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“People just need their last hurrah. They just need to feel like they fought one last time,” he continued. Other members allegedly told him, “‘Trust me, it’ll be fine.’ And I was like, ‘No, it won’t! That’s not what people believe and that’s not what you’re telling them.’” Crenshaw responded to his loss by blaming it on the “power of clickbait.”
”It’s not like anyone was going to the polls saying, ‘I don’t like that you said that. I disagree with it.’ Because at least then, they would be debating with me on something that I actually said,” Crenshaw said in an interview with The Texas Tribune. “I could deal with that. … But that’s never what came up in people’s minds and out of their mouths.”
Toth, in an interview with independent conservative journalist Tucker Carlson, ripped Crenshaw for profiting from insider trading through the stock market. “A large part of this election was about the power of clickbait,” Crenshaw said. “Memes became truth. Too many people are not discerning through the clickbait. People voting — one after the other — literally thought I was making millions in the stock market doing inside trading. Even though I haven’t made a trade in three years. I’ve made under $46,000 over my entire seven years in office. The truth didn’t matter to people.”