Norvell Kay Granger (born January 18, 1943) is an American politician who served as the U.S. representative for Texas's 12th congressional district from 1997 to 2025. A Republican, Granger chaired the House Committee on Appropriations from 2023 to 2024.
A former teacher and businesswoman, Granger served on the zoning commission of Fort Worth and on the Fort Worth City Council. She was elected as the first female mayor of Fort Worth in 1991 and served in that capacity until 1995. Granger was first elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1996.
Granger did not seek reelection in 2024. Following several months of absence from the Capitol, she was confirmed in December 2024 to have been residing in a senior living facility in Fort Worth since July 2024.
Early life
Granger was born in Greenville, Texas. She graduated from Eastern Hills High School in 1961 and from Texas Wesleyan University in 1965.
Early career
Granger is a former teacher and businesswoman. She served on the zoning commission of Fort Worth from 1981 to 1989 and on the Fort Worth City Council from 1989 to 1991. Granger was elected as the first female mayor of Fort Worth in 1991 and served in that capacity until 1995.
U.S. House of Representatives
Elections
Granger was first elected to Congress in 1996. She is a Republican.
After U.S. Representative
Pete Geren announced he would retire in 1996, both the Democratic and Republican parties worked to recruit Granger to run for his seat.
Granger represented Texas's 12th congressional district from 1997 to 2025.
In 2020, Granger received the endorsement of President Donald Trump for her re-election campaign.
Tenure
Granger was elected Conference Vice Chair, the fourth-ranking position among House Republicans, in 2006. She served as chair of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on State-Foreign Operations. She also sat on the United States House Committee on Appropriations's Subcommittee on Defense (she is the first woman to do so) and the Labor, Health, Human Services, and Education Subcommittee. Granger also served as a House Deputy Whip.
Granger was a member of the House Appropriations Committee for 25 years. She served as the ranking member of the Committee.
After being diagnosed with COVID-19, Granger was not present at Trump's second impeachment on January 13, 2021. She was one of four Republicans who did not vote on the impeachment. Granger stated that she opposed Trump's impeachment, however.
Retirement
On October 30, 2023, Granger confirmed that she would not run for re-election in 2024.
On March 22, 2024, she announced that she would step down as chair of the House Appropriations Committee as soon as the Republican Steering Committee chose her replacement,
which took place on April 10.
Granger's last recorded vote was on July 24, 2024;
[ Kay Granger: Votes and Legislation] she was then absent from the Capitol
until she returned to Washington in mid-November 2024 for a ceremony celebrating her work on the House Appropriations Committee.
In December 2024, media reports confirmed that Granger had been residing in a senior living facility in Fort Worth since July 2024; her son said she had "dementia issues."
Republican Craig Goldman was elected to represent Texas's 12th congressional district on November 5, 2024.
Political positions
The Washington Post described Granger as socially
Centrism, but fiscally conservative.
In 2013, the
National Journal, a nonpartisan organization, gave Granger a composite political ideology score of 73% conservative and 27% liberal.
According to
FiveThirtyEight, as of February 2020, she voted with President Trump's position on legislative issues about 97% of the time.
By October 2021, she voted with President Biden's position on legislative issues about 11% of the time.
Abortion
Granger formerly supported abortion rights
and
Roe v. Wade.
She reversed her position in 2020, asserting that she was
anti-abortion, signing an amicus brief that asked the Supreme Court to overturn
Roe.
Granger's abortion reversal was especially significant given the fact that her 1996 campaign had been promoted by The WISH List, a pro-abortion rights PAC.
Other issues
Granger is known for her support for defense spending.
Granger voted several times in favor of an amendment to the United States Constitution to make it a crime to physically desecrate the American flag. She supported the Federal Marriage Amendment to define marriage as only permitted between a man and a woman, and also opposed letting same-sex couples adopt children.
In June 2013, Granger was among the members of Congress to vote for an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2014 to restrict the Pentagon from entering into new contracts with Russia's state arms broker, Rosoboronexport.
During her tenure, Granger supported more than $50 million in earmarks to infrastructure projects in Fort Worth that benefited the Trinity River Vision Authority, an organization led by her son.
Granger voted for a resolution supporting Israel following the October 7 attacks.
Presidential candidate endorsements
On September 25, 2007, Granger endorsed former
Massachusetts governor
Mitt Romney in the Republican presidential primary.
She became national co-chair of the campaign organization Women for Mitt, filling a vacancy left by the death of Jennifer Dunn.
In 2015, Granger opposed Donald Trump 2016 presidential candidacy, saying, "He definitely should not be considered to speak for our nation as our president".
Committee assignments
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Committee on Appropriations
Caucus memberships
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Anti-Terrorism Caucus (Co-Chair)
-
United States Congressional International Conservation Caucus
-
Iraqi Women's Caucus (Co-Chair)
-
Sportsmen's Caucus
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Congressional Arts Caucus
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U.S.–Japan Caucus
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House Baltic Caucus
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Congressional NextGen 9-1-1 Caucus
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Republican Study Committee
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Congressional Caucus on Turkey and Turkish Americans
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Congressional Taiwan Caucus
Writing
In 2006, Granger published
What's Right About America, Celebrating Our Nation's Values, a book reflecting on lessons from prominent figures of U.S. history.
Personal life
Granger has three children and five grandchildren. She is a member of the United Methodist Church.
In December 2024, Granger was confirmed by The Dallas Morning News to have been residing in a senior living facility in Fort Worth since July 2024, concurrent with the final 6 months of her term. Her son said she had "dementia issues".
Honors
-
Kay Granger Elementary School, named in Granger's honor,
-
Kay Granger Park was named for Granger. It is a city park next to Mullendore Elementary School in North Richland Hills.
-
In 1993, Granger's high school recognized her as a distinguished alumna.
[ Kay Granger, USA Centers for Global Commercial & Investment Relations. Retrieved October 25, 2007. ]
Electoral history
+ : Results 1996–2022 |
| 1996 | | | 69,859 | 41.04% | | | 98,349 | 57.78% | | Heather Proffer | Natural Law | 1,996 | 1.17% | |
| 1998 | | | 39,084 | 36.28% | | Kay Granger | 66,740 | 61.94% | | Paul Barthel | Libertarian | 1,917 | 1.78% | |
| 2000 | | | 67,612 | 35.98% | | Kay Granger | 117,739 | 62.66% | | Ricky L. Clay | Independent | 2,565 | 1.36% | |
| 2002 | | | | | | Kay Granger | 121,208 | 91.87% | | Edward A. Hanson | Libertarian | 10,723 | 8.13% | |
| 2004 | | Felix Alvarado | 66,316 | 27.68% | | Kay Granger | 173,222 | 72.32% | | | | | | |
| 2006 | | John R. Morris | 45,676 | 31.09% | | Kay Granger | 98,371 | 66.95% | | Gardner Osborne | Libertarian | 2,888 | 1.97% | |
| 2008 | | Tracey Smith | 82,250 | 30.60% | | Kay Granger | 181,662 | 67.59% | | Shiloh Sidney Shambaugh | Libertarian | 4,842 | 1.80% | |
| 2010 | | Tracey Smith | 38,434 | 25.13% | | Kay Granger | 109,882 | 71.86% | | Matthew Solodow | Libertarian | 4,601 | 3.01% | |
| 2012 | | Dave Robinson | 66,080 | 26.68% | | Kay Granger | 175,649 | 70.91% | | Matthew Solodow | Libertarian | 5,983 | 2.42% | |
| 2014 | | Mark Greene | 41,757 | 26.31% | | Kay Granger | 113,186 | 71.31% | | Ed Colliver | Libertarian | 3,787 | 2.39% | |
| 2016 | | Bill Bradshaw | 76,029 | 26.85% | | Kay Granger | 196,482 | 69.40% | | Ed Colliver | Libertarian | 10,604 | 3.75% | |
| 2018 | | Vanessa Adia | 90,994 | 33.89% | | Kay Granger | 172,557 | 64.27% | | Jacob Leddy | Libertarian | 4,940 | 1.84% | |
| 2020 | | Lisa Welch | 121,250 | 33.04% | | Kay Granger | 233,853 | 63.72% | | Trey Holcomb | Libertarian | 11,918 | 3.25% |
| 2022 | | Trey Hunt | 85,026 | 35.73% | | Kay Granger | 152,953 | 64.27% | | | | | | |
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See also
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Women in the United States House of Representatives
External links
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