Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility
Sylvester Turner, Sworn In as US Representative in January, Dies at 70
d8a347b41db1ddee634e2d67d08798c102ef09ac
By The New York Times
Published 3 months ago on
March 5, 2025

Then-Mayor Sylvester Turner at City Hall in Houston on Feb. 8, 2023. Turner, a former mayor of Houston who was sworn in as a U.S. representative in January 2025, died on Tuesday, March 5, 2025, in Washington. He was 70 and had been in attendance at the president’s speech on Capitol Hill. (Michael Starghill Jr./The New York Times)

Share

Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

Sylvester Turner, a former mayor of Houston who was sworn in as a U.S. representative in January, died Wednesday in Washington. He was 70 and had been in attendance at President Donald Trump’s speech on Capitol Hill on Tuesday night.

His press secretary, Gregory Carter, said Turner had been taken to a hospital after the speech and then returned home, where he died. He said a cause had not been determined.

Turner, a Democrat, was a veteran of Texas politics. He served in the state Legislature from 1989 to 2016, when he became mayor of Houston. He served two terms before leaving office in January 2024.

A few months later, he entered a special election to fill the congressional seat left empty by the death of Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee in July; he then withdrew from the primary in favor of Lee’s daughter, Erica Lee Carter. Carter won that race and endorsed Turner in the November regular election.

He was sworn into office Jan. 3.

Sylvester Turner was born Sept. 27, 1954, in Houston. His father was a painter, and his mother was a housekeeper at a hotel.

He graduated as valedictorian from his high school, then received a bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of Houston in 1977 and a law degree from Harvard University in 1980.

He returned to Houston to work as a trial lawyer, first for an established firm and then for his own firm, Barnes & Turner, which focused on commercial law and personal injury litigation.

His marriage to Cheryl Turner ended in divorce. Survivors include their daughter, Ashley Turner-Captain.

As a liberal Democrat in the increasingly conservative Texas State Legislature of the 1990s and 2000s, Turner earned a reputation for fiery, partisan speeches. But he also had the ability to work across the aisle to advance issues he cared about, such as health care for low-income Houstonians.

He ran for mayor of Houston in 1991 and 2003, both times unsuccessfully. His 1991 loss was close, and he blamed the outcome on what he called a libelous news report linking him to an insurance scam.

In 1996, he successfully sued the reporter and the television station that broadcast the report. But the state Supreme Court overturned the jury award, saying that Turner had failed to prove malicious intent.

He ran for mayor again in 2015, and this time he won, thanks in part to an endorsement from President Barack Obama.

As mayor, he continued his efforts to expand health care access in Houston, and he won praise for cleaning up the city budget. But he was criticized for his decision in 2017 not to order a general evacuation of the city in the face of Hurricane Harvey, a Category 4 storm that killed some 60 people.

Having been in Congress for only two months, Turner did not have much time to establish a presence or a legislative record. His first bill, introduced last month, was to provide on-the-job cybersecurity training in federal offices.

Ahead of the president’s speech, Turner spoke to reporters with his guest for the evening, Angela Hernandez, a Houston mother who relies on Medicaid to care for her child, who has special needs.

“My message to the current administration for tonight’s State of the Union: ‘Don’t mess with Medicaid,’” he wrote on his Instagram account.

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.

By Clay Risen/Michael Starghill Jr.
c. 2025 The New York Times Company

RELATED TOPICS:

DON'T MISS

What Are Fresno Real Estate Experts Predicting for 2025 and Beyond?

DON'T MISS

First California EV Mandates Hit Automakers This Year. Most Are Not Even Close

DON'T MISS

Fresno State’s Ag College Is Growing. A New Corporate Sponsor Will Help Them

DON'T MISS

Trump Compares Russia and Ukraine to Children Fighting

DON'T MISS

Trump Administration Imposes Sanctions on Four ICC Judges in Unprecedented Move

DON'T MISS

SpaceX Will Decommission Dragon Spacecraft, Musk Says as Feud With Trump Escalates

DON'T MISS

Erika Sandoval Gets Life Sentence in Notorious Tulare County Murder

DON'T MISS

Israeli Military Strikes Beirut’s Southern Suburbs

DON'T MISS

We Are Being Governed by the Trump Organization Inc.

DON'T MISS

Wondrous Webster Has the Makings of a Wonderful Family Member

DON'T MISS

Trump Threatens Musk’s Government Deals as Feud Explodes Over Tax-Cut Bill

DON'T MISS

Fresno Police Want Your Tips to Solve Taylor Washington Homicide

UP NEXT

Trump Compares Russia and Ukraine to Children Fighting

UP NEXT

Trump Administration Imposes Sanctions on Four ICC Judges in Unprecedented Move

UP NEXT

SpaceX Will Decommission Dragon Spacecraft, Musk Says as Feud With Trump Escalates

UP NEXT

Erika Sandoval Gets Life Sentence in Notorious Tulare County Murder

UP NEXT

Israeli Military Strikes Beirut’s Southern Suburbs

UP NEXT

We Are Being Governed by the Trump Organization Inc.

UP NEXT

Wondrous Webster Has the Makings of a Wonderful Family Member

UP NEXT

Trump Threatens Musk’s Government Deals as Feud Explodes Over Tax-Cut Bill

UP NEXT

Fresno Police Want Your Tips to Solve Taylor Washington Homicide

UP NEXT

Derek Carr Explains Mysterious Retirement. He Didn’t Want to ‘Just Take the Saints’ Money’

SpaceX Will Decommission Dragon Spacecraft, Musk Says as Feud With Trump Escalates

4 hours ago

Erika Sandoval Gets Life Sentence in Notorious Tulare County Murder

4 hours ago

Israeli Military Strikes Beirut’s Southern Suburbs

5 hours ago

We Are Being Governed by the Trump Organization Inc.

5 hours ago

Wondrous Webster Has the Makings of a Wonderful Family Member

5 hours ago

Trump Threatens Musk’s Government Deals as Feud Explodes Over Tax-Cut Bill

5 hours ago

Fresno Police Want Your Tips to Solve Taylor Washington Homicide

7 hours ago

Derek Carr Explains Mysterious Retirement. He Didn’t Want to ‘Just Take the Saints’ Money’

8 hours ago

What Do Valley Leaders Say About Trump’s Threat to Yank High-Speed Rail Funding?

8 hours ago

Were Cuts in Rooftop Solar Payments Legal? CA Supreme Court Hears Arguments

9 hours ago

Fresno State’s Ag College Is Growing. A New Corporate Sponsor Will Help Them

The nonprofit supporting Fresno State’s ag specialty college unveiled its first corporate sponsor Thursday supporting students and tea...

3 hours ago

3 hours ago

Fresno State’s Ag College Is Growing. A New Corporate Sponsor Will Help Them

4 hours ago

Trump Compares Russia and Ukraine to Children Fighting

4 hours ago

Trump Administration Imposes Sanctions on Four ICC Judges in Unprecedented Move

4 hours ago

SpaceX Will Decommission Dragon Spacecraft, Musk Says as Feud With Trump Escalates

4 hours ago

Erika Sandoval Gets Life Sentence in Notorious Tulare County Murder

5 hours ago

Israeli Military Strikes Beirut’s Southern Suburbs

5 hours ago

We Are Being Governed by the Trump Organization Inc.

Webster, GV Wire's Adoptable Pet of the Week, June 5, 2025
5 hours ago

Wondrous Webster Has the Makings of a Wonderful Family Member

Help continue the work that gets you the news that matters most.

Search

Send this to a friend