Toth wins open Crenshaw House seat in Texas

Texas state Rep. Steve Toth (R) is projected to defeat Shaun Finnie (D) in Texas’s red 2nd District, according to Decision Desk HQ.

Voters in the district, encompassing parts of Harris and Montgomery counties, backed the Republican by nearly 51 percent. Finnie pulled in 49 percent support, according to DDHQ.

Toth defeated Rep. Dan Crenshaw (R) in the GOP primary back in March, winning 55.79 percent of the vote to Crenshaw’s 40.69 percent.

President Trump endorsed Toth, making Crenshaw the only House Republican on the ballot in Texas without backing from the president.

Some conservatives, including Toth, characterized the former Navy SEAL’s voting record as insufficiently MAGA. Crenshaw also faced backlash within the parts of the conservative movement for not echoing the president’s unsubstantiated claims of election fraud in the 2020 election.

“This campaign has been a referendum on representatives who campaign one way and govern another, and the people have spoken,” Toth said in a statement after his primary victory.

Toth also earned endorsements from Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and Turning Point Action in his bid for the district outside of Houston.

His campaign website advertises his conservative bona fides, touting his efforts to enforce border security, ban “critical race theory,” and protect the Second Amendment.

The Lone Star State Republican represented Texas state House District 15. He was elected to the Texas state House in 2012 and 2018. He was widely considered one of the party’s most conservative members in the chamber.

In addition to his political career, Toth is an ordained pastor and pool business owner.

The staunch conservative told The Texas Tribune he plans to join the House Freedom Caucus when sworn into Congress.