U.S. Congressman and longtime former Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner has died from enduring health complications. He was 70.
Turner died at 5:45 a.m. Wednesday after attending President Donald Trump’s address to a joint session of Congress on Tuesday night, his family said in a statement.
Turner’s death came just months after he won Texas’ 18th Congressional District race. He stood as a pillar in the history of the state’s largest municipality, serving eight years as Houston’s mayor after 27 years in the Texas House of Representatives. He represented Texas District 139 from 1989 until 2016.
“We’ve lost an outstanding public official,” Houston Mayor John Whitmire said Wednesday at City Hall. “Experience matters folks. No one will be able to step into Sylvester’s shoes and carry on his duties because there’s only one Sylvester Turner.”
A native Houstonian, Turner was born in 1954 and grew up in Acres Homes, a predominantly Black suburb.
He graduated as valedictorian from Klein High School in 1973 and earned a political science degree from the University of Houston in 1977. He attended Harvard Law School and started a career as an attorney specializing in corporate and commercial law.
In the final stretch of his mayoral tenure in 2022, Turner announced he had been quietly battling bone cancer. He was diagnosed with osteosarcoma after doctors discovered a tumor on his jaw during a dental visit when he complained of a toothache.
Turner declared himself cancer free at the end of 2022.
“I’m a better speaker because of Sylvester,” Whitmire said Wednesday. “You just can’t understand what it’s like to be in an African American — a Black church on Sunday morning with everyone enjoying the service and have to follow Sylvester Turner speaking. He will bring out the best in you in public service.”
RELATED: Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner reflects on his time leading the city as he prepares to leave office
During his mayoral terms, Turner garnered support in his campaign to address Houston’s potholes, infrastructure, public safety and flooding. Just into his first term, the mayor showed his preparation to tackle what Houston had to offer.
His tenure was marked by his efforts leading the city through several federally declared natural disasters, including Hurricane Harvey in 2017 and later the COVID-19 pandemic. He championed a gun buyback initiative and worked to address Houston’s lingering transportation issues as mayor, working to expand access for pedestrians and cyclists and adopting the Vision Zero traffic safety initiative.
“As mayor, Sylvester Turner presided over a remarkable period in which miles upon miles of Houston streets were reimagined to prioritize safety over speed, a bold act for any American mayor, but especially for the mayor of an historically car-dependent city with deep ties to the petroleum industry,” said Joe Cutrufo, the executive director of the nonprofit BikeHouston.
But Turner also had a contentious relationship with the Houston Professional Fire Fighters Association, which for years sought to settle a labor dispute with Turner’s administration. On Wednesday, the association extended condolences to the former mayor.
“While our union had a deeply contentious relationship with him, and his decisions had a profound impact on Houston firefighters, we also recognize his decades of service to the city and the country,” the association said in a statement.
Last year, Turner stepped out of his brief retirement to enter a head-to-head race to fill the late Sheila Jackson Lee’s congressional seat. Upon announcing he would seek to take up her seat, Turner said only Jackson Lee’s death at a critical moment in the election cycle could bring him out of retirement.
Turner’s campaign platform for the congressional seat focused on police accountability and his efforts to keep federal resources flowing to address hurricane recovery and cancer clusters in Houston’s Fifth Ward.
Turner, a Democrat, also aimed to pass strong reforms to end a gun violence epidemic, reduce inequality in public schools and address rising prices and the high cost of living.
On Wednesday, several city and state officials paid homage to Turner’s lasting impacts.
‘A transformational leader’
Daisy Espinoza/ Houston Public MediaHouston Mayor Sylvester Turner at the Houston Travel Fest opening ceremony on September 29, 2023.
“It is hard to put into words the loss of Congressman Sylvester Turner,” Harris County Attorney Christian Menefee said in a statement. “For nearly four decades, he devoted his life to public service, standing as a pillar of strength, wisdom and unwavering commitment to Houstonians, residents of the 18th Congressional District, and all Texans.”
U.S. Rep. Lizzie Fletcher, who represents the state’s 7th Congressional District, said Turner personified what it meant to be a Houstonian.
“I am heartbroken and devastated by the loss of this exceptional Houstonian and exceptional human being,” Fletcher said. “In his presence you could always feel the love for the city that we call home and for all the people who live here.”
Harris County Commissioner Lesley Briones called Turner’s passing a tremendous loss to the community and country.
“Congressman Turner was a transformational leader whose presence was felt in every neighborhood he represented, whose career carried the hopes of his community, and whose legacy will resonate for generations,” Briones said. “He loved to remind us that in Houston.”
Texas Democratic Party Chair Gilberto Hinojosa said Turner was Houston “through and through.”
“He was the kind of Texan who worked hard, lived out courage in the face of adversity, and believed that the ties that bind us will always be stronger than the forces that divide us,” he said.
The community lost an irreplaceable leader, Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo said.
“I am devastated and shocked by the passing of Congressman Sylvester Turner, who was my governing partner and friend,” Hidalgo said. “We often talked about how wonderful it was that a kid from Acres Homes and an immigrant kid could become the mayor and the county executive of communities as larges as Houston and Harris County.
“We mourned the passing of Congressman Sheila Jackson Lee together, and we also enjoyed rodeos and celebrated Astros wins together,” Hidalgo added. “I loved him and I appreciated him.”
