The political landscape was transformed over the weekend by the bombshell report that Texas Congresswoman Kay Granger, who had disappeared from public view for nearly six months, had been found in an independent living facility.
He was elected to Texas' 12th Congressional District in 1997, and was a long-time political candidate. I've been voting since July. While the House of Commons was in recess from August to October, anger erupted over her team's failure to speak up about her health.
Granger's family and team have since confirmed that the 81-year-old representative is indeed in an independent living facility, but denied reports that she resides in the facility's memory care unit. . It is also said that he has been showing signs of dementia since moving in.
Below is a breakdown of the mystery surrounding the retired lawmaker who was once the top House Republican on spending issues and how her whereabouts spiraled out of control.
According to her son, she experienced a “very rapid” decline.
Brandon Granger, the congressman's son, told the Post that his mother began showing signs of dementia over the past three months after she was admitted to the facility.
He slammed reports that his mother went insane as a “herd of cows” and was eventually admitted to a memory therapy facility, saying that she chose to migrate to the community of her own free will.
“There's a memory care facility there, and she's there.” [an] Independent living facility. It's a nice condo. I helped her move,” Brandon Granger told the Post.
Speculation about Kay Granger's whereabouts initially stemmed from one thing. Dallas Express report — a publication run by her former leading opponent — claimed she had been missing for several months and in a memory care ward.
The report cited social media posts from a user tagged in Fort Worth, Texas, and two employees who “confirmed that Granger actually lives at the facility.”
Brandon Granger declined to say whether she received treatment in a memory care unit, but said her decline was “very rapid and very difficult.”
A source outside of Granger's family familiar with the situation told the Post that claims that the Republican lawmaker is in memory care are “completely false.”
“In July, as she began preparing for her future in retirement, she decided to downsize and move here. [new residence]'' said the official. “If she had known she wouldn't be able to vote in the last few weeks of the session, she would have prepared differently.”
“Like most diseases, it is difficult to predict,” the official added. “She was in touch with leadership from the beginning and kept them informed of what was going on. She was willing to return to Washington, D.C., if they needed her for a particular vote. And they I knew that too.”
The official said that if Kay Granger, who was first elected to Congress in 1997, had retired in September, a special election would have been held and voters in Texas' 12th Congressional District would have been denied key services. Deaf, he emphasized.
Brandon Granger defended his mother's decision to move her to a facility.
“There are a lot of people younger than her there. Many of them are still functioning,” he said. “There's nothing wrong with wanting to be around people who she can spend time with and have cocktails with.
“She just decided to retire. She's 81 years old,” he said.
Kay Granger's Spox denies claims she's in memory care facility
A spokesperson for outgoing president Valerie Nelson also released a statement from the 80-year-old, saying Kay Granger is not in a memory care unit.
“We deeply appreciate the outpouring of care and concern over the past few days,” Kay Granger said in a statement.
“As many of my family, friends, and colleagues know, I have been navigating unexpected health challenges over the past year. However, since early September, my health issues have been… It progressed, making frequent travel to Washington difficult and unpredictable.”
Resigns as Chairman of the Appropriations Committee
Kay Granger in March resigned He was sworn in as chairman of the powerful House Appropriations Committee, passing the baton to Representative Thomas Cole (R-Okla.).
she especially did not attend the vote Funding for the government in the latest showdown over spending last week.
Kay Granger was at the Capitol last month.
Kay Granger's most recent public appearance was last month at the unveiling of a portrait in her honor at Parliament House.
Republican leaders were in attendance, including House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) and House Minority Leader Steve Scalise (R-Louisiana). She also spoke at the event.
“It has been the honor of a lifetime to serve in the House of Representatives, especially as a member of the House Appropriations Committee,” she said at the time. According to the press release.
Fellow Texas Rep. Tony Gonzalez (R-Texas) on Sunday expressed surprise at the claim that she had been living in an institution.
“I didn't realize, and I think there's no doubt that many of us knew, like many of our members, that she was getting older. Sadly, these Some of our members are waiting until things get too far,” he said Sunday on CBS News' “Face the Nation.”
The president and reporter of the Dallas Express has a past with Kay Granger.
The main character of the Dallas Express has a history with Kay Granger.
The magazine's CEO, Chris Putnam, mounted a fierce primary challenge against the 80-year-old in 2020. Mr. Putnam was his first significant primary challenger since 2012 and later supported him in the general election.
“How are you going to ignore this story just because I ran a primary against her?” Ms. Putnam mused to the Post when asked about their past history. “I have no personal animosity toward her at all. I think it's really, really sad.
“I just think the right thing to do for her would have been to quietly and gracefully resign, allow her replacement to fill her seat, and allow her district to maintain its representation.”
Meanwhile, the Post confirmed through multiple records that Carlos Turcios, the reporter who reported on the retiring representative, worked as an intern under her in 2021.
There's a Facebook photo from when the reporter was interning with Kay Granger, in which he's pictured next to Putnam.
Kay Granger allies have speculated that Turcios may have had an affair with Putnam while he was an intern for the outgoing Texas state representative. The Post reached out to him for comment.
But in the 2020 race between Putnam and Granger, the reporter was a supporter of the incumbent Texas representative.
“It's become very toxic,” he said. told the New York Timesmentioned Putnam when he was in high school. “He's going to alienate a lot of independents and centrists.”
Putnam also ignored a photo of himself and a future reporter who was Granger's intern at the time.
“People go to club events and things like that all the time,” he said.
Putnam added that the Dallas Express knew about Granger's condition more than a year ago, but refrained from getting into the story at the time after seeing her in public.
He also emphasized that: High turnover rate She endured her later years in Congress.
Congressman-elect Craig Goldman, who won the race to succeed Kay Granger, is scheduled to be sworn into Congress next month.
The newspaper has reached out to Goldman for comment.
