Who's running in Texas's 2nd congressional district
2 candidates are on the ballot. Below is what each one says they stand for, what they have actually done in office or in public life, and the arguments published for and against them — each quoted from a named source rather than summarised by us.
Medium confidenceMedium confidenceThe candidate's stated positions and basic record are documented, but coverage is thin — often little independent reporting, or criticism from only one side.What would raise it: More independent reporting, a documented voting record, or published criticism from a named opponent would raise this.
What they say they stand for
Their own words. Claims, not verified facts.
Stricter immigration enforcement; he attacked Crenshaw as soft on immigration.
Reducing foreign aid spending.
Opposition to abortion; he has authored and supported bills restricting it, including after the state ban.
Restricting what schools may teach about race and gender; he passed a law removing critical race theory from Texas classrooms.
Election integrity legislation.
Parental rights in schools, and access to reading tools for students with dyslexia.
What they’ve actually done
Documented record from official sources.
Member of the Texas House of Representatives for District 15 since 2012.
Member of the Texas House Appropriations Committee since 2019; helped write three state budgets.
A leader of the Texas House Freedom Caucus.
Passed state laws on county government ethics reform, parental visitation rights at schools, removing critical race theory from classrooms, and dyslexia education tools.
Filed 79 bills in the 2025 regular session.
Owns Acclaim Pools and My Pool Xpert in The Woodlands; also a pastor.
Defeated incumbent Dan Crenshaw 57.3% to 39.3% in the March 3, 2026 Republican primary.
Arguments in favor
He beat a sitting member of Congress by nearly 19 points, framing the race as a referendum on the ideological direction of the Republican Party, with Sen. Ted Cruz behind him.
— Primary result and Ted Cruz's endorsement, reported by the Houston Chronicle and CNN
Voters know exactly what they are getting: a Freedom Caucus hardliner who has served on and off in the Texas House since 2012 and filed 79 bills in the 2025 regular session, and who has helped pull the state party to the right.
— Texas Tribune profile carried by KVUE and the Houston Chronicle
Arguments against
His legislative programme targets problems that are not there: election integrity bills "despite no evidence of widespread fraud", abortion bills "even after the state banned the procedure outright", and restrictions on what schools can teach about race and gender.
— Texas Tribune profile carried by KVUE and the Houston Chronicle
The wing of the party he leads is made up of "grifters" and "performance artists" who tell conservatives what they want to hear, and he has no problem assailing leaders of his own party for falling short of his ideals.
— Dan Crenshaw, the incumbent Toth defeated, and the Texas Tribune profile
What we couldn’t verify
He has not served in Congress, so there is no federal voting record to set against his campaign's positions.
Whether Crenshaw's "grifters" remark was aimed at Toth specifically or at the wing generally was not established from the sources found.
His positions on the district's local priorities were not established from the sources found.
Household economics and affordability, which he makes his first issue.
Affordable health care.
Public education funding.
Reproductive freedom.
Bipartisan problem-solving and what he calls responsible government.
What they’ve actually done
Documented record from official sources.
Three decades working in investment banking.
Has not held elected office.
Advanced from the Democratic primary on March 3, 2026.
Arguments in favor
We found none published about this candidate in the sources reviewed.
Arguments against
We found none published about this candidate in the sources reviewed.
What we couldn’t verify
No published criticism of Finnie by name could be found: not from Steve Toth or his campaign, not from the National Republican Congressional Committee, and not from Houston news coverage, which centred on the Republican primary upset. He was the only Democrat on the primary ballot, so there was no primary opponent either. Because no case against him exists on the record, none is presented for him either, rather than showing his own campaign's case unanswered.
His positions and fundraising were not reported in material available; no campaign website was located.
Positions and criticism are quoted from the named sources, not our assessments. This is built to help you start getting informed — confirm the official candidate list with your election authority before you vote.
The Republican incumbent, Dan Crenshaw, is not on the November ballot: state Representative Steve Toth beat him in the March 3, 2026 Republican primary, 57.3% to 39.3%, making Crenshaw the first member of Congress to lose renomination this cycle. Toth faces Democrat Shaun Finnie. The district, redrawn in Texas's 2025 mid-decade redistricting, covers the northern and northeastern suburbs of Houston including The Woodlands, Spring, Kingwood and Humble. Neither candidate is listed with arguments for or against here: published criticism of Toth by name exists, but none of Finnie could be found, and setting out a case against one candidate and not the other would tilt the page.
This is one contest on a longer ballot
A Texas ballot also carries state legislative districts, county offices, judicial seats and often local questions — and which of them you vote on is decided by your street address, not your city or ZIP code.