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BumRushDaShow

(169,819 posts) Wed Mar 4, 2026, 09:20 AM Mar 4

GOP challenger Steve Toth ousts Rep. Dan Crenshaw in Texas primary

Source: AP

Updated 1:20 AM EST, March 4, 2026

Republican challenger Steve Toth defeated U.S. Rep. Dan Crenshaw on Tuesday night, ousting the only House Republican in Texas who President Donald Trump didn’t endorse heading into the nation’s first big primary of 2026.

Crenshaw, a former Navy SEAL whose independent streak sometimes clashed with fellow Republicans, spent the primary trying to fend off attacks from the party’s hard right that he was not in step with Trump’s agenda.

Toth, a state representative and member of the GOP’s hard-right caucus in the Legislature, picked up a big endorsement late in the primary from Republican Sen. Ted Cruz. “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 victory.

Crenshaw, who lost his right eye when he was hit with an improvised explosive device in Afghanistan in 2012, had clashed with Cruz over the senator’s support of Trump’s unfounded claim that he won the 2020 presidential election.

Read more: https://apnews.com/article/texas-republican-primary-dan-crenshaw-steve-toth-d38868d9da32f6ee631759dc6708334f

From one, somewhat "recovering" loon, to a true member of the loony bin.

10 replies

= new reply since forum marked as read

Highlight:

GOP challenger Steve Toth ousts Rep. Dan Crenshaw in Texas primary (Original Post) BumRushDaShow Mar 4 OP

Jesus. He is awful... CurtEastPoint Mar 4 #1

How the hell does prohibiting the purchase of land TexasBushwhacker Mar 4 #2

An ass for an ass purr-rat beauty Mar 4 #3

Taking donald dump's advice will be their undoing. mdbl Mar 4 #4

Is a dem running against him? BonnieJW Mar 4 #5

Yes (TX-2) BumRushDaShow Mar 4 #6

MaddowBlog-Why Texas' Crenshaw became the first member of Congress to lose in 2026 LetMyPeopleVote Mar 4 #7

Suck on that, Nick Fury. The Grand Illuminist Mar 4 #8

MAGA Billionaire with a grudge buys Republican a one-way ticket home from Congress: report LetMyPeopleVote Mar 6 #9

OMG LtTx Mar 6 #10

CurtEastPoint

(20,025 posts)

1. Jesus. He is awful...

Reply to BumRushDaShow (Original post)

Wed Mar 4, 2026, 09:34 AM

Mar 4

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.[110] Toth advocated for funding border security, prohibiting China and Iran from purchasing Texas land, banning Critical Race Theory in classrooms, ending gender-affirming surgeries for minors, and excluding biological males from girls' sports.

TexasBushwhacker

(21,204 posts)

2. How the hell does prohibiting the purchase of land

Reply to CurtEastPoint (Reply #1)

Wed Mar 4, 2026, 09:39 AM

Mar 4

by ANYONE raise funds?. Jesus Christ on a pogo stick!

purr-rat beauty

(1,258 posts)

3. An ass for an ass

Reply to BumRushDaShow (Original post)

Wed Mar 4, 2026, 09:39 AM

Mar 4

The shit keeps piling up

mdbl

(8,661 posts)

4. Taking donald dump's advice will be their undoing.

Reply to BumRushDaShow (Original post)

Wed Mar 4, 2026, 02:56 PM

Mar 4

Especially if the ass wins.

BonnieJW

(3,124 posts)

5. Is a dem running against him?

Reply to mdbl (Reply #4)

Wed Mar 4, 2026, 03:21 PM

Mar 4

BumRushDaShow

(169,819 posts)

6. Yes (TX-2)

Reply to BonnieJW (Reply #5)

Wed Mar 4, 2026, 03:43 PM

Mar 4

Shaun Finnie

https://apnews.com/projects/elections-2026/texas-primary-us-house/#2

LetMyPeopleVote

(179,906 posts)

7. MaddowBlog-Why Texas' Crenshaw became the first member of Congress to lose in 2026

Reply to BumRushDaShow (Original post)

Wed Mar 4, 2026, 04:20 PM

Mar 4

The GOP congressman might have been a Republican lawmaker wedded to party orthodoxy on most issues, but he wasn’t MAGA. It cost him his career.

Remember when Dan Crenshaw arrived on Capitol Hill and was seen as a â€œrising starâ€?

Seven years later, the Texas Republican lost his primary â€” not because he failed to vote with his party, but because he just wasnâ€™t MAGA enough.
www.ms.now/rachel-maddo...
— Steve Benen (@stevebenen.com) 2026-03-04T16:44:19.911Z

https://www.ms.now/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/why-texas-crenshaw-became-the-first-member-of-congress-to-lose-in-2026

The vast majority of members of Congress will learn in November whether they’ve been re-elected, but some won’t have to wait quite that long. The Texas Tribune reported:

State Rep. Steve Toth beat incumbent U.S. Rep. Dan Crenshaw for the Republican nomination in Texas’ 2nd Congressional District, coming one step closer to representing the Houston-area seat.

Toth opened a wide lead in the Republican primary on Tuesday as results came in and declared victory hours before The Associated Press called the race in his favor.

When Crenshaw arrived on Capitol Hill seven years ago, countless reports included the words “rising star” in the same sentence as his name. The New York Times described the young Texas Republican as “a charismatic, Harvard-educated retired Navy SEAL who wore a distinctive eye patch after losing his right eye during a deployment.”

The question at the time wasn’t whether he’d climb the ranks in GOP politics, but rather how high he’d go....

Except that didn’t happen — at least not in terms of his voting record. Crenshaw was as doctrinaire a member as the average House Republican, toeing the party line throughout his career on practically every major bill that reached the floor. As MS NOW’s Sydney Carruth explained during Tuesday night’s live-blog coverage, “His background is awash with support for conservative legislation, Trump’s harsh immigration policies and a proposal to end Medicaid coverage for gender-affirming care for minors. Crenshaw’s X profile promotes a hard-line approach to fighting Mexican drug cartels, a priority frequently touted by the Trump administration.”

The Texan did, however, make some intraparty enemies: Crenshaw had a habit of mocking the House Freedom Caucus (he called its members “performance artists”); he distanced himself from Trump-fueled election conspiracy theories and election denialism; and he made no secret of his disagreements with right-wing media personalities such as Tucker Carlson.

For many on the right, this sealed the congressman’s fate: Crenshaw might have been a Republican lawmaker wedded to party orthodoxy on most issues, but he wasn’t MAGA.

That cost him his career.

The Grand Illuminist

(2,041 posts)

8. Suck on that, Nick Fury.

Reply to BumRushDaShow (Original post)

Wed Mar 4, 2026, 09:23 PM

Mar 4

LetMyPeopleVote

(179,906 posts)

9. MAGA Billionaire with a grudge buys Republican a one-way ticket home from Congress: report

Reply to BumRushDaShow (Original post)

Fri Mar 6, 2026, 03:21 PM

Mar 6

Crenshaw lost because he pissed off a billionaire

Link to tweet

https://www.alternet.org/dan-crenshaw-2675566739

Rep. Dan Crenshaw (R-Texas) was ousted in a primary on Tuesday, and it all goes back to a feud he was having with a billionaire megadonor.

Axios reported on Thursday that Texas banker Robert Marling, a donor and supporter of President Donald Trump, was "hellbent" on destroying Crenshaw's career — and it only cost him $675,000.

Texas state Rep. Steve Toth, a far-right Republican, ousted Crenshaw 55 to 40 percent.

The battle began several years ago, those close to Marling told Axios. Marling invited Crenshaw to an annual conservative youth summit, but Crenshaw said he'd only attend if those in the audience wore masks. Those close to Crenshaw deny this and Crenshaw once proposed legislation to end the federal mask mandate on planes......

In an unrelated incident, Marling got wind that Crenshaw wanted to put Marling's "head through a wall," which Crenshaw also denies.

"A Crenshaw ally said the bad blood has to do with the peculiarities of Texas' 2nd District — specifically that Crenshaw represents the Harris County (Houston) portion of the district, and Marling resides in the Montgomery County portion, in Houston's northern suburbs," Axios reported. "This source said there's been a rivalry between the two counties, and that Marling wanted the district's representative to be from Montgomery County, which he found in Toth."

LtTx

(80 posts)

10. OMG

Reply to BumRushDaShow (Original post)

Fri Mar 6, 2026, 05:16 PM

Mar 6

What a f-ing small world. I went to high school with Robert Marling. I knew he was a banker, but I had no idea he was MAGA or a billionaire.

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