Steve Toth
Steven Hixson Toth is an American businessman from Conroe, Texas, who represents District 15 as a Republican in the Texas House of Representatives. District 15 is based entirely in suburban Montgomery County, part of the Houston Metro area in the southeastern portion of the state.
Background
Toth attended Pittsford Mendon High School in the Pittsford Central School District in suburban Rochester, New York. He also attended the former Rochester Bible College.Toth owns Acclaim Pools and My Pool Xpert in The Woodlands. He is a real estate agent. 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. He serves as Chairman of the Board of Directors for Mighty Oaks Foundation, which serves the needs of veterans who suffer from post traumatic stress disorder.
Toth is also a commentator on the political show FOX Faceoff which appears on Fox 26 Houston.
Texas State House tenure
2013 — 2015
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. Representative Toth was a member of two House committees: Corrections and Criminal Jurisprudence.In his first legislative session in 2013, Toth authored and carried the CSCOPE Transparency Act in the House. The bill brought the CSCOPE curriculum under the purview of the Texas State Board of Education. Toth was a co-sponsor of the measure which drew the most attention of the session, the forbidding of abortion after twenty weeks of gestation; the bill passed the House, 96-49. He voted for companion legislation to increase medical and licensing requirements of abortion providers.
He opposed the bill requiring the immunization of minors without parental consent, a measure which the House approved, 71-61. Toth co-sponsored legislation to provide marshals for school security. He co-sponsored the law to extend the franchise tax exemption to certain businesses. He co-sponsored the bill to require testing for narcotics of those receiving unemployment compensation. He voted against term limits for certain state officials because the legislation exempted both House and Senate Members. He voted for the redistricting bills for the state House, the Texas Senate, and the United States House of Representatives.
Second Amendment rights
He authored the Firearms Protection Act 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. Texas Monthly was critical of the bill. Toth received assistance from Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott in drafting the bill. On May 6, 2013 HB 1076 passed in the House but it did not get through the Senate. He also supported another law allowing college and university officials to carry concealed weapons for campus security reasons. Toth supports constitutional carry for Texas.In 2013, the Eagle Forum, founded by the late Phyllis Schlafly and managed in Texas by Cathie Adams, a former state chairman of the Texas Republican Party, rated Toth 95 percent favorable, as did the Young Conservatives of Texas. Texans for Fiscal Responsibility rated him 92 percent. The Texas Association of Business gave him an 80 percent score. He ranked 57 percent from the Texas League of Conservation Voters and 92 percent by the National Rifle Association. Texas Right to Life rated him 112 percent favorable.
2019 — present
On January 11, 2019, Toth filed House Bill 792 with the 86th Legislature and entitled it the Jones Forest Preservation 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.In January 2019, he was appointed to the House Appropriations Committee by Texas House Speaker Dennis Bonnen. On January 25, Toth along with Will Metcalf and Cecil Bell filed House Bill 1042 which would require Texas schools and law enforcement agencies to establish active shooter response plans and law enforcement agencies to conduct annual drills while also requiring law enforcement to immediately contain or eliminate a threat.
Government ethics
On February 7, 2019, Toth filed the JD Lambright Local Government Ethics Reform Act, which requires cities, counties, and other political subdivisions statewide to post contracts they have with taxpayer funded lobbyists and to post how much they are paying the lobbyists. It was filed in the Senate by Brandon Creighton on February 8 as Senate Bill 710. The house bill was passed by both chambers and was sent to the governor for signature on May 29, 2019. Governor Abbott signed the bill into law on June 14, 2019.Abortion
In February 2019, Toth co-authored Texas House Bill 1500 which would ban abortions after the detection of an unborn child's heartbeat. He also co-authored Texas House Bill 896 which would prohibit abortion. In March 2019, Toth became a cosponsor of SB 22 which prohibits government entities from providing taxpayer funded resources to Planned Parenthood. It was a response to a Planned Parenthood's $1-per-year rental agreement with the City of Austin for a clinic. It passed both chambers and was sent to Abbott on May 25, 2019 for signature. The bill was signed into law by Abbott on June 7, 2019.On March 5, 2019, Toth introduced Texas HB 3145, the School Lunch Bill. It clarifies that each parent, including the non-custodial parent, in a divorce can visit their child during school lunch and school activities regardless of possession schedule. It passed both chambers and was sent to the governor on May 28, 2019.
In March 2019 Toth introduced Texas House Bill 2518 which aims to reduce cannabis possession from a Class B to a Class C misdemeanor. To take it down from B to C would remove jail time for simple possession and lower the monetary penalty from $2,000 down to $500.
State House campaign of 2012
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.State Senate campaign of 2014
Toth did not seek a second term in House District 15 in the Republican primary on March 4, 2014. Instead he ran for the District 4 seat in the Texas Senate, vacated in the fall of 2013 by the resignation of Republican Tommy Williams of The Woodlands, who accepted a position with Texas A&M University in College Station. Toth faced intraparty opposition for the Senate vacancy from neighboring District 16 Representative Brandon Creighton of Conroe, who left the House after four terms, Richard Finely "Gordy" Bunch, who serves on The Woodlands township council, and Michael Galloway, who formerly held the District 4 seat in the 1990s.In the May 10, 2014, special election Toth came in second place behind Creighton. Creighton received 45.2%, Toth 23.7%, Bunch 21.8%, and 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."
U.S. Congressional campaign of 2016
In November 2015, Toth announced his candidacy for Texas's 8th congressional district seat currently held 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 to Toth's 45,298. Two other candidates held the remaining 9.2 percent of the ballots cast.
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 tea party support.
State House campaign 2018
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 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. Waters reported that during the primary she received $41,769 and spent $61,685, spending more in campaign contributions than she received.
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. From July through September 30, 2018, Toth raised $65,756, spent $7,026 and had $56,896 on hand. For the period from September 28 to October 27, 2018, Toth raised $24,279, spent $30,722, and had $51,629 on hand. On Election Day, Toth defeated McGill 67% to 33%, a two to one margin.
State House campaign 2020
Toth was unopposed in the March 3, 2020 Republican primary. He will face Democrat Lorena Perez McGill again in the 2020 general election in November. He defeated McGill by a two to one margin, 67% to 33% in 2018.Personal life
Toth and his wife, Babette Jayne Toth, have three children and two grandchildren. They have resided in Montgomery County since 1997.Election results
;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