Kay Granger’s win in Fort Worth race shows that congressional clout still matters
In the end, Rep. Kay Granger was plenty conservative enough.
The longtime Fort Worth representative beat back the most significant challenge of her career in Tuesday’s Republican primary, topping Chris Putnam, a retired businessman and former Colleyville City Council member.
Her victory proves that even in an era of political disruption, a few of the old rules apply.
For one thing, congressional clout matters. Granger has delivered time and again for Fort Worth, particularly protecting defense industry jobs. As the top Republican on the House Appropriations Committee, she has a big say in priorities such as border security.
BEHIND THE STORY
MOREHey, who writes these editorials?
Editorials are the positions of the Editorial Board, which serves as the Fort Worth Star-Telegram’s institutional voice. The members of the board are: Cynthia M. Allen, columnist; Steve Coffman, editor and president; Bud Kennedy, columnist; Ryan J. Rusak, opinion editor; and Nicole Russell, editorial writer and columnist. Most editorials are written by Rusak or Russell. Editorials are unsigned because they represent the board’s consensus positions, not the views of individual writers.
Read more by clicking the arrow in the upper right.
How are topics and positions chosen?
The Editorial Board meets regularly to discuss issues in the news and what points should be made in editorials. We strive to build a consensus to produce the strongest editorials possible, but when we differ, we put matters to a vote.
The board aims to be consistent with stances it has taken in the past but usually engages in a fresh discussion based on new developments and different perspectives.
We focus on local and state news, though we will also weigh in on national issues with an eye toward their impact on Texas or the Dallas-Fort Worth area.
How are these different from news articles or signed columns?
News reporters strive to keep their opinions out of what they write. They have no input on the Editorial Board’s stances. The board consults their reporting and expertise but does its own research for editorials.
Signed columns by writers such as Allen, Kennedy and Rusak contain the writer’s personal opinions.
How can I respond to an editorial, suggest a topic or ask a question?
We invite readers to write letters to be considered for publication. The preferred method is an email to letters@star-telegram.com. To suggest a topic or ask a question, please email Rusak directly at rrusak@star-telegram.com.
Efforts by Putnam and outside groups, such as the small-government Club for Growth, to tag Granger as a big spender did not work.
Republican voters may not love federal spending, but they aren’t ready to take a chance on diminishing an important local economic engine.
Next, the Republican Party is ever more conservative and increasingly aligned with President Donald Trump. Granger, who in the past opposed Trump, saw the inevitable and embraced him.
Putnam tried to paint Granger as insufficiently supportive of the president, but Trump’s endorsement of the incumbent hurt that argument just as the campaign was getting under way. And Trump reminded the world of it on Twitter right before Election Day, for good measure.
Finally, while it’s still possible to go too far to the right, Granger nonetheless had to move quite a bit to be in position to fend off Putnam, too. She emphasized her conversion on abortion, countering Putnam’s reminders of her years in the pro-choice camp.
Granger will face college professor Lisa Welch, who handily won the Democratic nomination. The district remains solidly Republican, and even with Texas Democrats showing signs of life in places where they haven’t been competitive in decades, Granger should handily win re-election.
Running against an incumbent at any level is difficult, and it gets even harder in a primary. Putnam ran a strong race to come as close as he did, and the outside groups that launched a blizzard of ads against Granger were a factor.
And the result shows that, despite her success, Granger’s position has slipped. Beyond the ideological battle, she’s taken heat over the ongoing problems with the Panther Island project. Some take that criticism too far, but she’s got to find a way to help get the funding the project urgently needs.
Because even in these volatile political times, incumbency mattered to Kay Granger’s voters. They stood by her, and they deserve results.