Here Are the Oldest Elected Officials in Texas in 2026

Editor’s Note, 1/12/2026: This article was originally published in January 2025. It has been updated to include new and current information. 

In late 2024, U.S. Rep. Kay Granger, 81, was forced to acknowledge her lengthy absence from Congressional votes when reports revealed the congresswoman was a resident of a senior living facility in Fort Worth. Granger’s age-related health concerns brought the highly contentious issue of retirement-age politicians back into the spotlight.

Granger had already announced she would not seek re-election and had last cast a vote in the House in July 2024. The octogenarian reportedly experienced “dementia issues” after not previously disclosing her health concerns. 

“As many of my family, friends, and colleagues have known, I have been navigating some unforeseen health challenges over the past year,” Granger said in a press release at the time. “However, since early September, my health challenges have progressed, making frequent travel to Washington both difficult and unpredictable.”

Granger had also already stepped down as chair of the House Committee on Appropriations, but critics said she should have relinquished her seat in the House as well.

The representative from Fort Worth isn’t the only politician who has received pleas to step down in the past couple of years. Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, 83, has long faced calls to retire and has now announced that he will indeed retire at the end of his term in 2027. Rep. Nancy Pelosi, 85, the former Speaker of the House, controversially announced her bid for reelection in 2023. However, in November, she announced that she would not seek reelection in 2027. 

The debate over elected officials’ ages reached a boiling point when President Joe Biden dropped out of the 2024 election following intense scrutiny. Frequent irregular speech patterns, balance issues and failure to respond to questioning brought heavy criticism surrounding the President’s age. 

Immediately upon his Nov 2024. election victory, President Donald Trump became the oldest president-elect in American history and will be 82 when he completes his second term. The advanced ages of the past two presidents caused experts to classify the American government as a “gerontocracy,” a government with officials significantly older than most of their adult constituents. Pundits point out that the required retirement age for military officers is 65, arguing that the Commander-in-Chief should be subject to similar limitations. 

A recent study from the Pew Research Center found 79% of Americans support maximum age limits for elected officials serving in the capital. North Dakota has begun to take small steps toward addressing aging among officeholders. In 2024, the state passed a law that made it illegal for representatives to run for office if they would turn 81 before the end of their term. Canada has enforced a retirement age of 75 for their senators since 1965. In Texas, state judges are the only elected officials who are required to retire at a specific age. A proposal in 2023 aimed to increase that age from 75 to 79, but failed.

State government officials are progressively getting older. The average age of Texas lawmakers during the 2021 session was 54; in 2023, it was 57. The Texas House of Representatives is younger than the Senate by 6 years. The average age for Texas senators is 60 and for representatives, 54.

Here are the oldest politicians representing Texans at the state and national levels in 2026: