In a significant rebuke to the Republican establishment, State Rep. Steve Toth has unseated Rep. Dan Crenshaw in the GOP primary for Texass 2nd Congressional District, marking a clear win for grassroots conservatives.
With 58 percent of votes reported late Tuesday, Toth held a commanding lead with 57.6 percent to Crenshaws 39.2 percent. According to Gateway Pundit, this upset underscores the growing strength of the MAGA-aligned base in Texas, which has increasingly rejected Republicans perceived as drifting toward the political center.
President Donald Trump endorsed every other Texas House Republican incumbent running for re-election ahead of the March 3 primary, but deliberately left Crenshaw out. This made Crenshaw the only Texas GOP House member without Trumps backing in a competitive race, a conspicuous omission that signaled conservative dissatisfaction long before Election Day.
Toth is leading in both Harris and Montgomery counties that make up the district. If Toth stays above the 50 percent threshold, which appears likely, he will win the nomination outright and avoid a May runoff, consolidating conservative momentum without an extended intraparty fight.
Crenshaw, a former Navy SEAL first elected in 2018, had faced mounting criticism from the right for positions opposed by the MAGA base, including his past opposition to certain vaccine mandate rollbacks and public spats with conservative media figures. Those stances alienated many primary voters who expect their representatives to resist federal overreach and side firmly with constitutional liberties.
Toth, a longtime state representative from The Woodlands and owner of a local pool company, ran as an unapologetic, hard-line conservative and received the endorsement of Sen. Ted Cruz. The district remains solidly Republican, so the GOP nominee is heavily favored to win the general election in November, making this primary effectively determinative of who will carry the conservative banner in Washington.
This is likely to be one of the biggest primary upsets of the 2026 cycle. For many Texas conservatives, it is also a warning shot to incumbents who underestimate the enduring power of the America First movement.
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