Kay Granger, the first Republican woman from Texas elected to House of Representatives, dies at 83

(NBC, KYMA) - Kay Granger, the first Republican woman from Texas to be elected to the U.S. House of Representatives and who served for nearly three decades, died Sunday.

Granger, who began her career as a high school teacher and a businesswoman, accomplished many firsts as a politician.

She was the first woman elected Mayor of Fort Worth, Texas, and the first republican woman to chair one of the most powerful committees in congress, the House Appropriations Committee.

First elected to the house in 1996, she did not seek reelection in 2024 and experienced worsening health challenges in her final months in Congress, according to a statement her office released in December 2024.

Granger, who didn't cast a vote in Washington after July 2024, didn't specify or elaborate on those health challenges but said in the statement that frequent travel to Washington had become both difficult and unpredictable since early September of that year.

House Speaker Mike Johnson said, in a post on X, throughout her career, granger "broke barriers for women in public service." he added that she "was a dear friend who will be greatly missed."

Granger was 83-years-old.