Congressman and former Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner dies

U.S. Rep. Sylvester Turner, a former Houston mayor, state legislator and institution in Houston Democratic politics, died Tuesday evening. He was 70.

Turner’s death comes two months into his first term representing Texas’ 18th Congressional District, the seat long occupied by his political ally, former U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, who also died in office last year amid a battle with pancreatic cancer.

Turner said in 2022 that he had secretly been recovering from bone cancer. Last summer, as he was seeking the nomination for Jackson Lee’s seat, Turner said he was cancer-free.

Before joining Congress, Turner served as Houston mayor from 2016 to 2024. He served for nearly 27 years in the Texas House.

Gov. Greg Abbott can call a special election to fill Turner’s congressional seat for the rest of his term. State law does not specify a deadline to call a special election, but if it is called the election is required to happen within two months of the announcement.

Turner’s death comes at a critical time in Congress. House Republicans have few votes to spare as they look to advance President Donald Trump’s agenda, including extending his 2017 tax cuts. With Turner’s safely Democratic seat vacant, Republicans now control 218 seats to Democrats’ 214 — an extra vote of breathing room in the narrowly divided chamber.

Houston Mayor John Whitmire, Turner’s successor, confirmed the news at Wednesday’s Houston City Council meeting. Turner was working in Washington, D.C., and was taken to a hospital, where he died, Whitmire said.

“This comes as a shock to everyone,” Whitmire said. “I would ask Houstonians to come together, pray for his family, join us in celebrating this remarkable public servant. Celebrate his life, which we will be doing.”

Whitmire, who has recently clashed with Turner over several political and policy issues, said he and Turner were very close and had “been together in good times and bad times.” The two overlapped in the Texas Legislature — Whitmire in the Senate, Turner in the House — for Turner’s entire legislative career.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said House Democrats were “shocked and saddened” by Turner’s sudden death.

“Though he was newly elected to the Congress, Rep. Turner had a long and distinguished career in public service and spent decades fighting for the people of Houston,” Jeffries said in a statement. He noted that Turner was at the U.S. Capitol on Tuesday evening for Trump’s speech to a joint session of Congress, calling him a “fighter until the end.”

To highlight his opposition to proposed Medicaid cuts, Turner invited a constituent to the speech, Angela Hernandez, whose daughter has a rare genetic disorder. In a video posted to social media Tuesday evening alongside Hernandez, Turner finished by saying, “Don’t mess with Medicaid.” Jeffries invoked that as Turner’s “final message to his beloved constituents.”

During his time in Austin, Turner wielded outsized power for a Democrat serving in a Republican-controlled Legislature. He spent nearly 20 years on the budget-writing House Appropriations Committee and at the time of his exit was the only Democrat to chair a budget subcommittee, overseeing funding for the judiciary, criminal justice and public safety.

Turner also served for more than 15 years on two of the state House’s most powerful committees: State Affairs, which oversees a sweeping range of key legislation, and Calendars, which sets the agenda for bills heard on the House floor.

During budget debates on the House floor, Turner was known for using an abacus as a prop to underscore his opposition to GOP tax cuts.

“When the abacus came out, I knew I was done,” State Rep. Greg Bonnen, R-Friendswood, wrote on social media. “You will be missed, my friend.”

State Rep. Gene Wu, a Houston Democrat and the House Democratic Caucus leader, said Wednesday on the Texas House floor that he was “devastated” by Turner’s death.

“Sylvester was more than just a colleague for me. He was my adviser. He was my mentor. He was my personal hero,” Wu said, getting choked up.

When Wu began working as a legislative staffer in 2005, he recalled, “there were only two names that I knew before coming to work here, and that was [longtime Rep.] Senfronia Thompson and Sylvester Turner. Because they were people who were outspoken for fighting for their communities and defending the poor and the working class and anybody who got stepped on.”

Article originally published by The Texas Tribune. To read the originally published article, click here.