Kay Granger, Fort Worth’s First Female Mayor and Congressional Power Broker, Dies at 83
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Kay Granger, Fort Worth’s first female mayor and the first Republican woman from Texas elected to the U.S. House of Representatives, died Sunday at her Fort Worth home. She was 83. Granger had been living with Alzheimer’s disease.
During nearly three decades in Congress, Granger used her position on the House Appropriations Committee to direct federal attention and funding to Fort Worth as she rose to become the committee’s ranking Republican and later its chairwoman. Known for her influence on defense spending, Granger championed programs that benefited major manufacturers in her Tarrant County district, including Bell Helicopter and Lockheed Martin, builder of the F‑35 fighter jet program, which has faced years of scrutiny over delays, technical problems, and aircraft readiness. She remained a strong defender of the aircraft, arguing that it was essential to national security.
Granger’s most consequential and most complicated Fort Worth legacy may be Panther Island, the massive and still-unfinished flood-control and redevelopment project north of downtown. Conceived in the early 2000s, the federal Central City project calls for a 1.5-mile bypass channel that would reroute part of the Trinity River and protect more than 2,400 acres of established neighborhoods from flooding. That work would also create an “island” for a new mixed-use waterfront district with housing, offices, shops, parks, and canals in Fort Worth.
The project is moving toward its most significant construction phase, but it remains controversial. More than two decades after planning began, the long-running effort has been plagued by delays, rising cost estimates, and questions about its management. Granger’s son, J.D. Granger, led the Trinity River Vision Authority, an arrangement that drew accusations of nepotism from critics.
The former congresswoman is credited with a major breakthrough in 2022, when the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers allocated $403 million for design and construction. Granger did not live to see Panther Island finished — the flood-control project is currently projected for completion in 2032 — but her persistent pursuit of federal support helped keep the project alive when its future appeared uncertain.
From Fort Worth Classroom to City Hall
Born Norvell Kay Mullendore on Jan. 18, 1943, in Greenville, Texas, Granger grew up in Fort Worth and graduated from Eastern Hills High School. She earned a bachelor’s degree in English and home economics from Texas Wesleyan University in 1965 and began her career teaching English and journalism.
Two Tarrant County schools honor Granger and her family’s ties to education. Kay Granger Elementary School in Northwest ISD recognizes Granger’s early teaching career. Mullendore Elementary School in Birdville ISD is named after her mother, Alliene Mullendore, who became a principal and the first woman elected to the Birdville school board.
Texas Wesleyan University awarded Granger an honorary doctorate in 1992. She joined the Fort Worth university’s Board of Trustees in 2015 and was named a trustee emerita in 2025.
Granger married John Granger in 1964, and the couple had three children before divorcing in 1978. To support her family, she began selling commercial insurance from home and eventually opened her own business, Kay Granger Insurance.
Her public service career began as a member of the Fort Worth zoning commission before winning a seat on the City Council. She served on the council from 1989 to 1991 before being elected Fort Worth’s first female mayor in 1991. She held that nonpartisan office until 1995.
When U.S. Rep. Pete Geren decided not to seek another term in 1996, both Democrats and Republicans recruited Granger to run for the 12th Congressional District seat. She ultimately ran as a Republican, and became the first member of her party elected to represent the 12th District. Former House Speaker Jim Wright, a Democrat and a fellow member of First United Methodist Church of Fort Worth, had represented the district before Geren.
Long Tenure in Washington
Granger served in Congress from January 1997 until January 2025. As one of the longest-serving members of the state’s congressional delegation, Granger was known as a power broker, exerting influence in the interest of the state.
A social moderate early in her political life, Granger opposed Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential bid, calling his comments about women “disgusting” and criticizing his attacks on Sen. John McCain’s military record. Facing a primary challenge from party critics who said she was insufficiently supportive of Trump, she endorsed him in 2020.
Granger announced in October 2023 that she would not seek another term. She cast her final congressional vote in July 2024 and was absent from Washington for most of the remainder of the year. Her family later disclosed in late 2024 that she had been experiencing dementia-related health problems and living in a Fort Worth senior care facility since the previous summer.
She is survived by her three children, including son J.D. and his wife, Shanna; son Brandon and his wife, Erin; daughter Chelsea Hughes; and five grandchildren, including Jack Granger, Kirby Kate Granger, Logan Granger, Gage and Aiden Hughes, as well as niece Robin O’Day Dettmer and nephews Steve and Tim O’Day.
Services are pending.
