Sylvester Turner
Sylvester Turner (September 27, 1954 – March 5, 2025) was an American Democratic politician and lawyer. Turner was a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Texas's 18th district from January 3, 2025 until his death two months later on March 5, 2025. He was the 62nd Mayor of Houston, Texas from 2016 to 2024. Turner was a member of the Texas House of Representatives from 1989 until 2016.[1]
Sylvester Turner | |||||||||
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| Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Texas's 18th district | |||||||||
| In office January 3, 2025 – March 5, 2025 | |||||||||
| Preceded by | Erica Lee Carter | ||||||||
| Succeeded by | Vacant | ||||||||
| 62nd Mayor of Houston | |||||||||
| In office January 2, 2016 – January 1, 2024 | |||||||||
| Preceded by | Annise Parker | ||||||||
| Succeeded by | John Whitmire | ||||||||
| Member of the Texas House of Representatives from the 139th district | |||||||||
| In office January 10, 1989 – January 1, 2016 | |||||||||
| Preceded by | Clint Hackney | ||||||||
| Succeeded by | Jarvis Johnson | ||||||||
| Personal details | |||||||||
| Born | September 27, 1954 Houston, Texas, U.S. | ||||||||
| Died | March 5, 2025 (aged 70) Washington, D.C., U.S. | ||||||||
| Political party | Democratic | ||||||||
| Spouse(s) | Cheryl Turner (m. 1983; div. 1991) | ||||||||
| Children | 1 | ||||||||
| Education | University of Houston (BA) Harvard University (JD) | ||||||||
| Signature |  | ||||||||
| Website | Official website | ||||||||
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Early life
Turner was born on September 27, 1954, in Houston, Texas, as the sixth of nine children.[2] He studied at the University of Houston, where he was Speaker of the Student Senate.[3] Turner earned a J.D. degree from Harvard Law School.[4]
Political career
Turner ran for mayor of Houston in 1991, losing in the runoff election to Bob Lanier.
Turner won the 2015 election,[5] defeating Bill King in the runoff by 4,082 votes out of 212,696 votes cast in the closest mayoral election in Houston history by percentage.[6]
In 2024, after the death of Sheila Jackson Lee, Turner announced his candidacy to fill her congressional seat and was nominated at the convention to replace her as the Democratic nominee in the November general election.[7] He won the November 2024 general election.[8]
Death
In November 2022, Turner said that he had been diagnosed with bone cancer, for which he had surgery and received six weeks of radiation treatment.[9]
On the afternoon of March 4, 2025, Turner became sick at his office in Washington, D.C., but after receiving medical attention was able to attend President Donald Trump's address to Congress that evening.[10] He was later reported to have been hospitalized before being discharge to his Washington home, where he died in the early morning of March 5 at the age of 70.[11][10] He was the first member of the 119th Congress to die in office and the second incumbent representative for Texas's 18th district to die in a one-year period, after Sheila Jackson Lee.[10]
Sylvester Turner Media
Turner with Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen in January 2017.
Turner discussing Houston's path to becoming a smart city at an event by New America in January 2019.
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References
- ↑ "Rep. Sylvester Turner". Texas House of Representatives. Retrieved 27 March 2014.
- ↑ "About – Sylvester Turner". Sylvester Turner for Mayor. Archived from the original on July 14, 2015. Retrieved July 14, 2015.
- ↑ "Mayor Sylvester Turner". Retrieved December 18, 2023.
- ↑ "1979 Ames Moot Court Competition". November 1, 1979. Retrieved December 18, 2023.
- ↑ Cooper, Nakia. "Sylvester Turner announces candidacy for mayor". Archived from the original on 2015-10-19. Retrieved 2018-08-13.
- ↑ "Sylvester Turner wins Houston mayoral runoff election". Click2Houston. 2015-12-12. Retrieved 12 December 2015.
- ↑ Choi, Matthew (August 13, 2024). "Former Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner is the Democrats’ pick for Jackson Lee seat in Congress". The Texas Tribune. https://www.texastribune.org/2024/08/13/turner-jackson-lee-november-ballot-houston/. Retrieved August 13, 2024.
- ↑ "Sylvester Turner to succeed the late Sheila Jackson Lee". MSN. Retrieved November 25, 2024.
- ↑ Carson, Dan (November 2, 2022). "Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner reveals he was treated for bone cancer". Houston Chronicle. Retrieved November 3, 2022.
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 Rep. Sylvester Turner of Texas found dead, law enforcement official says. March 5, 2025. https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2025/03/05/trump-presidency-news-speech/#link-M2QOGC66RJDQXLHKZ6JB6VCHDE. Retrieved March 5, 2025.
- ↑ Lozano, Juan A. (March 5, 2025). "US Rep. and former Houston mayor Sylvester Turner dies at 70". Associated Press. https://apnews.com/article/sylvester-turner-congressman-houston-mayor-ecc30cd520f77a0699b464b23d3fe3b1. Retrieved March 5, 2025.
Other websites
Media related to Sylvester Turner at Wikimedia Commons
- Biography, voting record, and interest group ratings at Project Vote Smart
- Legislative page
- Our Candidates page
- Appearances on C-SPAN
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