Kay Granger

Infobox_Congressman
name = Kay Granger


date of birth = birth date and age|1943|01|18
place of birth = Greenville, Texas
state = Texas
district = 12th
term = 1997–present
preceded = Pete Geren
succeeded = Incumbent
party = Republican
spouse = divorced
religion = Methodist
occupation= high school teacher, financial executive
alma_mater= Texas Wesleyan University
residence= Fort Worth, Texas

Kay Granger (born January 18 1943), a Republican politician from the U.S. state of Texas, currently represents the 12th congressional district ( [http://nationalatlas.gov/printable/images/preview/congdist/tx12_109.gifmap] ) in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Granger was born in Greenville, Texas, and attended Eastern Hills High School, which recognized her as Distinguished Eastern Hills High School Graduate in 1993. [ [http://www.usacenters.com/kaygranger.html Kay Granger] , USA Centers for Global Commercial & Investment Relations] . Accessed October 25, 2007.] 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, although violent crime decreased statewide in Texas and in the country generally during that same period.

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 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 hasn't faced serious opposition since 2000, until this current 2008 election cycle. Democrat Tracey Smith, a journalist, businessman, long time district resident and community organizer is challenging Granger.

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 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. She also serves as a Deputy Minority Whip.

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. Land for the school was donated to the Northwest Independent School District by Hillwood Development Corp. (H. Ross Perot, Jr.'s company) with the agreement that the school would be named for the sitting Congresswoman. 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. [http://www.mittromney.com/News/Press-Releases/Granger_Endorsement] 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. [http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/politics/local/stories/DN-grangerromney_26nat.ART.State.Edition1.4224513.html Granger endorses Romney and will co-chair Women for Mitt | Dallas Morning News | News for Dallas, Texas | Dallas-Fort Worth Politics | The Dallas Morning News ] ] 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."

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.

In practice, her voting record reflects that she almost 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."

Because of the divergence between her public pronouncements and her Congressional voting record, she has been characterized as having "a muddled ideological background".

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.

References

External links

* [http://kaygranger.house.gov/ U.S. Congresswoman Kay Granger Lee] official House site
** [http://kaygranger.house.gov/News.asp?FormMode=Detail&ID=258/ USS Fort Worth Campaign]
*CongBio|g000377
* [http://herndon1.sdrdc.com/cgi-bin/can_detail/H6TX12060 Federal Election Commission — Kay Granger] campaign finance reports and data
* [http://www.ontheissues.org/TX/Kay_Granger.htm On the Issues — Kay Granger] issue positions and quotes
* [http://www.opensecrets.org/politicians/summary.asp?CID=N00008799 OpenSecrets.org — Kay Granger] campaign contributions
* [http://www.vote-smart.org/bio.php?can_id=BC032299 Project Vote Smart — Representative Kay Granger (TX)] profile
* [http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Kay_Granger SourceWatch Congresspedia — Kay Granger] profile
* [http://projects.washingtonpost.com/congress/members/g000377/ Washington Post — Congress Votes Database: Kay Granger] voting record
* [http://www.kaygranger.com/ Kay Granger for U.S. Congress] official campaign site
* [http://www.traceysmithgoestowashington.com/ Democratic U.S. Congress Challenger, 2008 Tracey Smith] official campaign site