Steve Toth

Early life and education

Born and raised in New York, Toth attended Pittsford Mendon High School in suburban Rochester. He also attended Rochester Bible College.

Career

Toth owns Acclaim Pools and My Pool Xpert in The Woodlands. He is a former pastor at Family Life Ministries of the Fellowship of The Woodlands, a congregation now known as The Woodlands Church. He was formerly an elder and teacher at another non-denominational congregation, WoodsEdge Community Church also in The Woodlands, Texas. Toth is also a commentator on the political show FOX Faceoff which appears on Fox 26 Houston.

Texas House of Representatives

Texas House District 15 is based entirely in suburban Montgomery County, centered around The Woodlands. It is part of the Houston Metro area in the southeastern portion of the state.

Toth won the 2012 election to the State House district 15. In February 2013, newly inaugurated Representative Toth was elected by his colleagues to the House Republican Caucus Policy Committee as the East Texas representative on the panel.

In his first legislative session in 2013, Toth authored and carried the CSCOPE Transparency Act in the House (SB-1406). The bill brought the CSCOPE (Common Core) curriculum under the purview of the Texas State Board of Education.

He authored the Firearms Protection Act (HB 1076), restricting federal control and regulations of firearms, which made it a Class A misdemeanor to interfere with a Texan's Second Amendment rights. The act also protected Texas' state and local law enforcement officers from violating the U.S. Constitution, and prevented the federal government from targeting certain firearms and accessories with restrictions. Toth received assistance from Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott in drafting the bill. On May 6, 2013, HB 1076 received enough votes to pass in the Texas House but was never approved by the Senate so did not become law. A similar bill, supported by Toth, passed the Texas House (with Toth's support) and the Texas Senate and was signed by Governor Greg Abbott on June 17, 2021.

Toth supports constitutional carry for Texas.

On January 11, 2019, Toth filed House Bill 792 (Senate Bill 345) with the 86th Legislature and entitled it the Jones Forest Preservation Act ("Jones Forest Act"). The Jones Forest Act protects the 1,722-acre William Goodrich Jones State Forest from development. Texas A&M University suggested that the university would develop a Texas A&M campus on the land, which sits next to The Woodlands, Texas. Neighborhood associations in the area complained that the development would add to traffic congestion and eliminate a forest that has been part of Texas heritage since 1923. It was passed by both the Texas House and the Texas Senate and sent to Governor Greg Abbott on May 25, 2019.

Political campaigns

2012 Texas House campaign

In the 2012 Republican primary for the District 15 House seat, the more conservative Toth unseated the five-term incumbent, Rob Eissler, 56.5% to 43.5%. In the general election, Toth defeated the Libertarian Party nominee, Sterling Russell, 87% to 13%. No Democrat sought the seat.

2014 Texas Senate campaign

On October 3, 2013, State Senator Tommy Williams said he would not run again in the State Senate Republican primary election scheduled for March 4, 2014.

In the May 10, 2014, special election to fill the Senate seat that Williams left, Toth came in second place behind Brandon Creighton. Creighton received 45.2%, Toth 23.7%, Gordy Bunch 21.8%, and Mike Galloway 9.3%.

Toth and Creighton then met in a special election runoff on August 5, 2014. In the special election runoff, Toth was defeated by Creighton 67% to 33% percent. Rice University political science professor Mark Jones said both Creighton and Toth "are significantly more conservative than Williams."

2016 congressional campaign

In November 2015, Toth announced his candidacy for Texas's 8th congressional district seat held at the time by Kevin Brady. In January 2016, Toth received the endorsement of all Tea Party organizations in Montgomery County, Texas. Professor Jones of Rice University stated: "Toth is certainly a more credible challenger than the typical Republican gadfly who is unknown and unfunded."

In the March 1 primary, Toth and two fellow challengers held incumbent Brady to 53 percent of the vote. In 2014, Brady had received 68 percent of the vote in the primary. In 2016, Brady prevailed with 64,745 votes (53.4 percent) to Toth's 45,298 (37.4 percent). Two other candidates held the remaining 9.2 percent of the ballots cast. During the primary, Toth and the two other challengers (Craig McMichael and Andre Dean) had an informal détente among themselves. As all three were politically to the right of Representative Brady, and believing none of them would win an outright majority of votes cast, their immediate goal was to force a runoff. They hoped that then the top vote-getter among themselves would face off and defeat Brady for the nomination, but Brady did get over 50% of the vote, avoiding a runoff.

Toth spent $89,325 on the primary. Brady spent over $1.5 million on the primary. Toth criticized Brady for compromising too often with President Obama, supporting the omnibus federal budget bill, and voting to revive the U.S. Export-Import Bank. Toth had support from Tea Party groups. Brady received significant support from the business wing of the Republican Party. FEC filings show that, leading up to the primary and general elections, he received campaign contributions from the following industries: Oil and gas $401K, healthcare $367K, insurance $302K, securities and investments $269K, and pharmaceuticals $261K.

2018 Texas House campaign

On May 31, 2017, Toth announced that he would be running for his old Texas House seat, District 15, since the incumbent, Mark Keough, announced he would not be running for re-election but instead run for Montgomery County Judge. Toth's opponent in the Republican primary was Mary "Jackie" Waters of The Woodlands. Toth stated that he wanted to reduce property taxes for homeowners by implementing an acquisition-based appraisal system. A taxpayer's home value would be set upon the purchase price, regardless of how long the taxpayer lives in the house. Toth wants to encourage the San Jacinto River Authority ("SJRA") to work on the flood control aspects of its mission statement, instead of keeping Lake Conroe at full capacity for recreational purposes. He has also advocated for the directors of the SJRA board to be elected positions and for the directors to have a civil engineering background, to encourage effective floodplain models.

On March 6, 2018, Toth won the Republican nomination for Texas House District 15 over Waters by 78% to 21%. Toth received the largest vote margin of any candidate in Montgomery County, defeating Waters by 58% of the vote, a three-to-one margin.

In the November 2018 general election, Toth faced Democrat Lorena Perez McGill of The Woodlands. Toth indicated that in the general election against McGill, he would be focusing on lowering property taxes, passing tax reform, and raising teacher salaries. On Election Day, Toth defeated McGill 67% to 33%, a two-to-one margin.

2020 Texas House campaign

Toth was unopposed in the March 3, 2020 Republican primary. He faced Democrat Lorena Perez McGill again in the 2020 general election in November.

During the election, he was part of a group of Texas Republicans who filed lawsuits in both state and federal courts seeking to invalidate about 127,000 drive-thru cast votes in Harris County, Texas. Toth said that the county exceeded their state constitutional authority by allowing drive-thru voting as an alternative to walk-in voting during the COVID-19 pandemic, a change that Toth argued that should have only been decided by the Texas Legislature. Democrats said that this would disenfranchise everybody who cast drive-thru votes in good faith. The Texas Supreme Court dismissed the motion without issuing an order or opinion. Upon this defeat, Toth then took the case to federal court, initially losing at the lower court level. Federal Judge Andrew Hanen ruled that the plaintiffs did not have standing to sue. After the appeal, nine of the ten drive-thru voting sites were shut down by interim Harris County Clerk Chris Hollins, the outcome that Toth originally intended.

On November 3, 2020, Toth again defeated McGill 66.5% to 33.5%, a two-to-one margin. McGill raised $44,828, but she spent $58,422.

2022 Texas House campaign

Toth faced an opponent in the March 1, 2022, Republican primary. His opponent was attorney Maris Blair of The Woodlands, whose law firm primarily collects taxes. Blair has never held office, and her late father's law firm is the largest tax collection firm in Texas. Toth won the Republican primary with 69% of the vote to Blair's 31%, a two-to-one margin of victory. Toth faced schoolteacher Democrat Kristin Johnson of The Woodlands in the general election. On November 8, 2022, Toth defeated Johnson 66% to 34%, once again a two-to-one margin.

2024 Texas House campaign

Toth faced an opponent in the March 2024 Republican primary named Stephen "Skeeter" Hubert of Conroe, Texas. Hubert was a Conroe ISD school board member, whose appointed term on the board ended in November 2024.

Toth campaigned on ending Democratic committee chairs in the Texas House, promoting school choice, and limiting the House Speaker to two terms to curb their influence over individual members.

In the Republican primary on March 5, 2024, Toth defeated Hubert 66% to 34%, winning again by a two-to-one margin. After the victory, Toth said "Priorities include passing a Secure Classroom Act and the Classroom Teachers' Bill of Rights, which will be a companion bill to state Sen. Brandon Creighton's Senate bill." On November 5, 2024, Toth won re-election to the Texas House since no Democrat filed to run against him.

2026 Texas 2nd District Congressional campaign

See: 2026 United States House of Representatives elections in Texas

On July 15, 2025, Toth officially announced his intention to challenge Dan Crenshaw for the Texas's 2nd congressional district seat at a rally in Spring, Texas. On February 24, 2026, Toth was endorsed by Ted Cruz, Texas' junior U.S. Senator. Toth criticized Crenshaw's record, arguing he's been lenient on immigration, focused on foreign aid, more responsive to lobbyists than constituents, and insufficient loyalty to MAGA priorities. Toth benefited from Crenshaw being the only Texas House Republican running without a Trump endorsement, and redistricting added more of Toth's Montgomery County base to the district. On March 3, 2026, Toth defeated Crenshaw 56%-41%. Toth won the primary despite Crenshaw having raised $1.3 million more.

He will face Democrat Shaun Finnie in the general election on November 3, 2026. Toth has indicated that if he wins, he plans to join the House Freedom Caucus. President Donald Trump has endorsed him for the general election. As of June 30, 2026, Toth reported $834,450 in receipts and $152,935 in cash on hand to the FEC.

Personal life

Toth and his wife, Babette Jayne Toth (born 1957), have three children and four grandchildren. They have resided in Montgomery County since 1997. Toth is a Christian and is ordained.

Election results

2026 Republican primary for Texas 2nd Congressional district

2024 Republican primary for Texas 15th district state representative

2022 general election for Texas 15th district state representative

2022 Republican primary for Texas 15th district state representative

2020 general election for Texas 15th district state representative

2018 general election for Texas 15th district state representative

2018 Republican primary for Texas 15th district state representative

2016 Republican primary for Texas 8th Congressional district

2014 special election runoff for Texas 4th district state senator

2014 special election for Texas 4th district state senator

2012 general election for Texas 15th district state representative

2012 Republican primary for Texas 15th district state representative