February 17, 2026
It’s campaign season, and a lot of lies are swirling around, but no campaign has spun more tall tales than Dan Crenshaw’s for Texas Congressional District 2. During the primary season, everyone’s record is fair game for criticism, but the criticism should be based on truth. For the past several months, Dan Crenshaw’s campaign has been doing everything it can to get the emotions of Kingwood residents flowing like water from the floodgates of the Lake Conroe Dam in the middle of an August night in 2017.
Most of the distortion of Toth’s record on flooding is being spread by local “flood guru” Bob Rehak. It is being further amplified by a vendor hired by the Crenshaw campaign, who has already been exposed for some pretty shady actions to distort Steve Toth’s record on flooding.
The claims: Steve Toth voted NO on three consecutive bills to address the dredging of the San Jacinto River, doesn’t think dredging works, doesn’t care about Kingwood flooding, voted to flood Kingwood, and has the blood of child victims of Hill Country flooding on his hands.
The reality: Steve Toth has delivered on flood mitigation and emergency response, and he cares about the disastrous flooding that has plagued Kingwood. Toth even intervened recently to stop a development that would have increased flood risks for Kingwood by fighting to have the funding from the General Land Office removed.
Steve Toth addressed the concerns of Kingwood residents in a recent video. Speaking directly to voters, he acknowledged the years of hardship Kingwood has endured. He stated that seven years is too long to wait for relief and said Kingwood residents deserve more than a committee; they deserve leadership on this issue, which he is determined to deliver.
Steve Toth voted for SB 7 in 2019, a bill that provided $1.6 billion in flood control projects. In the same session, he also voted for HB 5, which requires the Texas Division of Emergency Management (TDEM) to develop a catastrophic debris management plan and training and establishes a work group to make recommendations on how local governments and property owners’ associations can assist with recovery efforts. It also requires TDEM to develop a model contract for debris removal. Toth also voted for HB 7 in 2019, which provided the framework for providing a total of $1.6 billion through the Texas Infrastructure Resilience Fund (TIRF) as matching funds available to those communities hardest hit by Hurricane Harvey, and through the Flood Infrastructure Fund for statewide infrastructure projects to mitigate future flooding events. In 2019, Toth voted for SB 6, which requires TDEM to develop a disaster response model guide and wet debris study group for local communities.
The claim: Steve Toth is against dredging efforts. The truth: Steve Toth voted for HB 1824 in 2019; this bill helps promote the dredging efforts in Harris County.
Steve Toth also helped deliver the only accountability that I have heard of to date relating to the disastrous flooding. He voted for HB1540 in 2023 and championed the amendment that removed Jace Houston as the head of the San Jacinto River Authority, prompting Houston’s resignation.
The Claim: Steve Toth has blood on his hands for voting against a bill that failed in the regular session. The bill mandated a statewide emergency warning system.
The reality: The bill, HB 13, was used by the media to politicize the deaths of young girls after the catastrophic flooding in the Texas Hill Country that killed many young girls camping at Camp Hope on July 4th. Understandably, emotions are high after an event that left Texas in mourning. However, the reality is that HB 13, had it passed, would not have prevented the tragedies related to the flooding because this bill would not have even taken effect until September 2025. Had it passed, the systems would not have been in place before the floods. The implementation timeline was 10 years. The bill was rejected by the legislature because it was too broad, mandating a statewide system. Governor Abbott later suggested that a broad, one-size-fits-all approach might have been the problem, stating that “what’s needed in that river basin… could be far different than what is needed in some other river basin across the state”. This regional focus led to the more targeted Senate Bill 3, passed in the subsequent special session, which specifically mandated sirens for only the 30 most flood-prone counties. The Texas Water Development Board is currently implementing this on an accelerated timeline, with specific areas for installation expected to be finalized by March 3, 2026. Steve Toth voted for SB 3 in the special session.
Kingwood is tired, fatigued by flooding and Hurricane damage. What Kingwood needs now is an advocate who will deliver results for the community. It has been seven long years, and the season of flooding lies ahead.
One bill that the Crenshaw campaign has been critical of Toth for voting against was HB 1352. This bill creates a dredging district that is able to issue bonds for the purpose of dredging sand from areas of the San Jacinto River, Caney Creek, Luce Bayou, and Lake Houston. The bill passed, and the dredging district has so far appointed one member, Ken Kerchofer, and is scheduled to meet for the first time in September of 2026. Critics of increased state spending questioned the $25 million annual state grant allocation. They argued that such funds should be managed through existing entities like the Harris County Flood Control District rather than a newly created board.
In the neighboring Spring and Cypress communities, the Cypress Creek Drainage Improvement District was approved by the Texas Legislature in May 2023. Like the proposed Lake Houston district, the CCDID lacks powers of eminent domain and taxation, which is likely why it was approved. However, this has created some challenges when trying to get projects funded. It remains to be seen if the newly created Lake Houston Dredging and Maintenance District will be successful in covering operations with the sale of sand extractions, as it is receiving $25 million in state funds until the legislature meets again.
Kingwood faces a whole season of rainy weather before the dredging district even holds its first meeting. The appointment of Ken Kerchofer, a local school board member who was reinstated after being soundly defeated in the last local election, has community members wondering if the board is serious at all.
Kingwood is tired, fatigued by flooding and Hurricane damage. What Kingwood needs now is an advocate who will deliver results for the community. It has been seven long years, and the season of flooding lies ahead. What Kingwood doesn’t need right now is the politicizing of the pain experienced by the community to deflect from Steve Toth’s conservative voting record.
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