Kay Granger

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Kay Granger
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Texas's 12th district
Incumbent
Assumed office  1997
Preceded by	Pete Geren
Born	January 18, 1943 (1943-01-18) (age 66) Greenville, Texas
Political party	Republican
Spouse	previously married
Residence	Fort Worth, Texas
Alma mater	Texas Wesleyan University
Occupation	high school teacher, financial executive
Religion	Methodist

Kay Granger (born January 18, 1943), a Republican politician from the U.S. state of Texas, currently represents the 12th congressional district (map) in the U.S. House of Representatives, the first Republican woman to represent Texas in the House.

[edit] Biography and career

Granger was born in Greenville, Texas, and grew up in Fort Worth, Texas, where she attended Eastern Hills High School, which recognized her as Distinguished Eastern Hills High School Graduate in 1993.^[1] She graduated from Texas Wesleyan University. She was elected to the Fort Worth city council in 1989 and was elected Mayor in 1991. Her tenure as mayor saw a drop in violent crime.

After the retirement of Congressman Pete Geren in 1996, both the Democratic and Republican parties worked to recruit Granger. Republicans were particularly bullish on their chances of winning the 12th. It had once been represented by Democratic Speaker of the House Jim Wright, but had been made considerably more affluent after the 1990 census. Granger made the decision to run as a Republican, much to the dismay of local GOP activists, who criticized Granger as being too liberal. She was handily reelected in 1998 and did not face serious opposition except in 2000. In 2008, Granger defeated Democratic challenger Tracey Smith with 67% of the popular vote.

In 2006, Granger was reelected to serve her sixth term in Congress. She was also elected Conference Vice Chair, the fourth-ranking position among House Republicans, in November 2006. She is Ranking Member of the House Appropriations Subcommitee on State-Foreign Operations. She also sits on the United States House Committee on Appropriations's Subcommittee on Defense (the first woman to do so), and the Labor, Health, Human Services, and Education Subcommittee. In 2008, she chose not to run for House Minority Whip, a position she had previously held.

Granger is the author of the book, What's Right About America, Celebrating Our Nation's Values.

In August 2007, Kay Granger Elementary School opened in far north Fort Worth. A school named for Granger's mother - Mullendore Elementary - was opened several years earlier in North Richland Hills, Texas. The adjacent Kay Granger Park is maintained by the city.

On September 25, 2007, she publicly endorsed former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney in the primary race for the Republican Party presidential nomination.^[2] She also took up the position of national co-chair of the campaign organization Women for Mitt, filling a vacancy left by the death of Jennifer Dunn.^[3] In a statement to the press following her endorsement, she said that she had heard Romney speak and that "I agreed with everything he said, in the order he said it."

[edit] Congressional committee assignments

• Committee on Appropriations
  • Subcommittee on Defense
  • Subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs (Ranking Member)

[edit] Ideology

Granger is considered a moderate by Texas Republican standards. She is a member of many moderate Republican groups. such as The Republican Main Street Partnership (which supports embryonic stem cell research), The Republican Majority for Choice, Republicans for Choice, and The Wish List.

However, she generally always votes with her party's leadership in Congress. Her own website posts an article from "Conservative Quarterly" that calls her "a dependable vote for the leadership on most issues."

In 2003, Granger was given a 10% rating by NARAL and an 84% rating by the Christian Coalition of America.

Granger has also 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 also supports the Federal Marriage Amendment.

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• U.S. Congresswoman Kay Granger Lee official House site
  • USS Fort Worth Campaign
• Kay Granger at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
• Federal Election Commission — Kay Granger campaign finance reports and data
• On the Issues — Kay Granger issue positions and quotes
• OpenSecrets.org — Kay Granger campaign contributions
• Project Vote Smart — Representative Kay Granger (TX) profile
• SourceWatch Congresspedia — Kay Granger profile
• Washington Post — Congress Votes Database: Kay Granger voting record
• Kay Granger for U.S. Congress official campaign site
• Democratic U.S. Congress Challenger, 2008 Tracey Smith official campaign site