Former Texas Rep. Kay Granger dies at 83

Kay Granger, the former Texas congresswoman who broke a series of political barriers and rose to lead the powerful House Appropriations Committee, died Sunday. She was 83.

Her family announced her death, and her son JD Granger said the cause was Alzheimer’s disease, The Guardian reported.

Granger, a Republican from Fort Worth, served in the U.S. House for 28 years and became the first Republican woman elected to represent Texas in Congress. She was also the first woman to serve as mayor of Fort Worth and the first Republican woman to chair the House Appropriations Committee.

House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., announced her death on X, calling Granger “a dear friend who will be greatly missed” and praising “her extraordinary life of service and lasting legacy.”

“Kay Granger devoted her life to serving her Fort Worth, Texas, community,” Johnson wrote. “Throughout her career, she broke barriers for women in public service.”

Born Norvell Kay Granger in January 1943, she worked as a high school teacher and businesswoman before entering politics. She served as Fort Worth’s mayor from 1991 to 1995 and won election to the House the following year from Texas’s 12th Congressional District. She went on to win 14 consecutive elections, including a 2002 race in which she received 92% of the vote.

As mayor, Granger introduced citizen patrol initiatives that helped halve a rampant crime rate, The Guardian reported. She also secured private-sector partnerships that drew major businesses to Fort Worth, bringing national attention to the city’s economic revival.

In a 2008 interview with The Hill, Granger said her separation and eventual divorce from her husband reshaped her life and strengthened her advocacy for women.

“I was a high school teacher with three children, a two-year-old and six-month-old twins, and my husband left,” she said. “It’s the reason I talk so much to working mothers. You just fight your way through the day.”

When she entered Congress, Granger was named to an advisory board to then-House Speaker Newt Gingrich and received seats on the budget, oversight, and transportation and infrastructure committees. She later resigned from those assignments after joining the Appropriations Committee.

Granger served as the committee’s ranking member until Republicans won control of the House in 2022. She then became chair and held the post until April 2024. As chair, she sought steeper non-defense spending cuts than the top-line figures agreed to by then-Speaker Kevin McCarthy and President Joe Biden as part of a plan to avoid a government default, The Guardian reported.

Granger announced in 2023 that she would not seek re-election. In 2024, after she had not cast a vote since July, The Dallas Express reported that she was living in an assisted living facility. Her son later told The Dallas Morning News that she was experiencing “dementia issues.” Her office said in December 2024 that she had been navigating “unforeseen health challenges that have progressed since September and made travel to DC difficult.”

Members of both parties offered condolences Sunday. House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., called Granger an “Iron Lady” and wrote, “I’m grateful to have called her a friend.”

Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, said Granger “lived a life of historic firsts.” He added, “For nearly three decades, she championed North Texas, our Armed Forces, and a strong national defense. We are praying for her family and all who loved her.”

Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., who preceded Granger as Appropriations chair, said she was “deeply saddened” and called it “an honor to serve alongside her.”

“Throughout our years serving together on the Appropriations Committee, we worked through difficult challenges with mutual respect and honesty,” DeLauro said. “At every step of her career, she earned the respect of Members on both sides of the aisle through her steady leadership and deep belief in the importance of Congress fulfilling its constitutional responsibility to invest in the American people.”