Political ads · 2026 · TX

Texas House District 2 2026: the ads, and who's paying for them

Steve Toth won · 51.0% to 49.0% · Called by AP on Nov 4

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Shaun Finnie (Democrat) and Steve Toth (Republican) are the nominees for Texas's 2nd congressional district in the November 3, 2026 general election. By their latest FEC reports, Shaun Finnie's campaign had raised $3.2 million (through October 14, 2026) and Steve Toth's campaign $1.0 million (through October 14, 2026). Outside groups have reported $0 for Shaun Finnie and $22,000 against; $596,000 for Steve Toth and $1.8 million against.

Shaun Finnie (DEM), Steve Toth (REP). 4 others filed with the FEC; any ads they ran are below. 0 ads analyzed, 0 with at least one technique in the copy. Newest first. The paid-for-by line is the advertiser's own filing.

Voting in Austin? 10 local ballot measures → The ballot wording read for rhetorical techniques, and who is paying for and against each.

How to vote in Texas

From Texas's official election office. Each line links to the official page it came from.

Registration	Register by Mon, Oct 5 (30th day before Election Day, moved to the next business day. Mailed applications must be postmarked by the deadline. New registrations are on paper; online is only for updating an existing record.) (passed)Source: votetexas.gov ↗
Early voting in person	Mon, Oct 19 to Fri, Oct 30 (passed)Source: sos.state.tx.us ↗
By mail	Mail voting needs a reason the state accepts (Only these voters qualify: away from the county, sick or disabled, expecting to give birth within 3 weeks of Election Day, 65 or older, or confined in jail or involuntary civil commitment); request a ballot by Fri, Oct 23 (Must be received by this date; a postmark does not count); return it by Tue, Nov 3 (Received by 7 pm on Election Day, or postmarked by 7 pm on Election Day and received by 5 pm on Nov 4) (passed)Source: sos.state.tx.us ↗Source: votetexas.gov ↗
Election Day	Tue, Nov 3. Polls: 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. (passed)Source: votetexas.gov ↗
ID at the polls	One of 7 acceptable photo IDs. A voter who cannot reasonably get one may sign a Reasonable Impediment Declaration and show supporting ID instead.Source: votetexas.gov ↗

Check your registration and polling place ↗ Texas's official election site ↗

Checked October 6, 2026. Rules can change; confirm with the official site before you go.

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Money in this race

From FEC filings for 2025–26. Outside spending is money a group spends on its own about a candidate — TV and online ads, mail, canvassing. It is not a donation to the campaign, and the candidate does not control it. Supporting means it was spent to help that candidate win; Opposing means it was spent to defeat them, usually on attack ads. Groups report it within 24 or 48 hours as the election nears. Raised is the campaign's own fundraising, as of its latest quarterly report. Largest donors come from each outside spender's own FEC receipts, with each donor's share of its itemized receipts; donors under $100,000 are not named. People are shown with the employer and occupation they reported. A donor that is itself a political committee is shown with its own largest donors. Companies and nonprofits don't report their funders to the FEC, so the trail ends there, and the page says so.

Shaun Finnie (DEM)

Raised: $3.2M through 2026-10-14 individuals $898K · PACs $12K · candidate's own money, incl. loans $2.0M · from the candidate's other committees $8,500 · cash on hand $262K
Outside spending: $22K opposing Finnie · latest reported 2026-09-29
Largest outside spenders: AMERICAN JOBS AND GROWTH PAC — $22K opposing Finnie Largest donors: SERIOUS CONSERVATIVES PC $233K (66%)

Bundled through PACs: none reported · FEC bulk data of 2026-11-01

1 PAC gave directly — alphabetical; the legal limit is $5,000 per election

INTERNATIONAL BROTHERHOOD OF ELECTRICAL WORKERS POLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEE $1,000

All filings at the FEC ↗

Steve Toth (REP)

Raised: $1.0M through 2026-10-14 individuals $808K · PACs $175K · candidate's own money, incl. loans $13K · from the candidate's other committees $37K · cash on hand $112K
Outside spending: $1.8M opposing Toth · $596K supporting Toth · latest reported 2026-10-27
Largest outside spenders: FIGHT TO WIN AMERICA, INC. — $1.8M opposing Toth Largest donors: Paul Elliott Singer $650K (20%), Elliott Management Corporation, President; COURAGE ACTION INC. $500K (15%) (an organization: its own funders aren't reported to the FEC); CONSERVATIVE AMERICANS PAC $500K (15%); William O III Perkins $300K (9%), Skylar Capital Management, CEO & President; PATRIOTIC FUND, INC. $250K (8%) ALAMO FREEDOM FIGHTERS PAC — $445K supporting Toth Largest donors: Robert Marling $675K (68%), Woodforest Foundation, President; CLUB FOR GROWTH ACTION $200K (20%) FREEDOM CAUCUS FUND — $51K supporting Toth Largest donors: Michael T Rydin $8.8M (76%), Retired, Retired; HOUSE FREEDOM ACTION $350K (3%); KOMADA, ANNA $253K (2%); Steven Cowles $205K (2%), Retired, Retired; Steven W Corbett $200K (2%) SAVE AMERICAN FREEDOM — $36K supporting Toth Largest donors: COMMONSENSE POLICY IN ACTION $790K (81%) (an organization: its own funders aren't reported to the FEC); Konstantin Sokolov $100K (10%), US Investments LLC, Executive AMERICAN LIBERTY FOUNDATION — $27K supporting Toth Largest donors: AMERICAN LIBERTY ACTION FUND $355K (26%) (an organization: its own funders aren't reported to the FEC); VOICE OF THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL $250K (18%) (an organization: its own funders aren't reported to the FEC); THE GEO GROUP, INC. PAC $250K (18%); THE 2026 VICTORY COMMITTEE $148K (11%) (its largest donors: ANDREWS, GEORGE $409K); Phillip Frost $100K (7%), Opko Health INC, CEO and 5 more

Bundled through PACs: $13K through 2 PACs · FEC bulk data of 2026-11-01 FREEDOM CAUCUS FUND — $6,350 from 5 gifts SENATE CONSERVATIVES FUND — $6,300 from 7 gifts

21 PACs gave directly — alphabetical; the legal limit is $5,000 per election

BUCKEYE LIBERTY PAC $5,000
BUILDING RENEWAL IN AMERICA NOW PAC $2,500
DAVID VOLKERT & ASSOCIATES INC. POLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEE $2,500
DRILLERSPAC A POLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEE OF THE INTERNATION $2,500
EMPLOYEES OF QUANTA SERVICES INC. $500
ERIC BURLISON FOR CONGRESS $2,000
FREEDOM CAUCUS FUND $5,000
FREEDOM FIRST PAC $1,000
JIM JORDAN FOR CONGRESS $2,000
NATHANIEL MORAN FOR CONGRESS $2,000
NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF INSURANCE AND FINANCIAL ADVISORS POL $1,000
NATIONAL AUTOMOBILE DEALERS ASSOCIATION POLITICAL ACTION COM $5,000
NATIONAL COMMUNITY PHARMACISTS ASSOCIATION - PAC $1,000
NATIONAL PRO-LIFE ALLIANCE PAC $5,000
PHILLIPS 66 PAC $2,500
RAPTOR PAC $5,000
RICHARD HAYES CAMPAIGN $2,500
SENATE CONSERVATIVES FUND $10K
TEXAS FARM BUREAU AGFUND $4,800
TEXAS VALUES PAC $5,000
TIFFANY NELSON FOR TEXAS $1,000

All filings at the FEC ↗

No campaign ads analyzed for this race yet.

What this page is

An ad is on this page because its own "Paid for by" line is a campaign in this race; or it comes from a national Senate group and ran mostly in TX; or it ran mostly in TX and names a candidate — unless its sponsor is a campaign for some other office. Ads from outside groups appear alongside the campaigns' own.
Campaigns run one text as many separate ads. Identical text from the same sponsor is one card here, marked with its number of variants.
A technique is a specific rhetorical move in the wording, found by our model and explained in one line. It is not a claim that the ad is false.
Claims are checked when a reader asks: press "Check this ad's claims" on a card. Running a check and seeing its verdicts are part of Semblen Pro, because each check costs money to run; anyone can see which claims an ad makes. The ten ads with the most money behind them in each race are checked ahead of time.
Claim verdicts say what the cited sources say. A verdict that an ad is wrong or misleading is shown only when it cites an established fact-checker or an institutional record — Congress, a federal agency, a court — and its confidence is not low; a weaker one is not shown at all. Each verdict shows what it rests on and how confident it is. If we got one wrong, press Disagree: a verdict that readers dispute and no one defends comes down.
Video ads come from the campaigns' own YouTube channels; the transcript is analyzed. Meta ads are analyzed on their text; their video and images are not, yet.