Texas Rep. Sylvester Turner, the former mayor of Houston, has died suddenly at 70 years old, just two months after joining Congress.
Current Houston Mayor John Whitmire announced Turners death at the beginning of a city council meeting on Wednesday, March 5, per local news reports.
According to Whitmire, the Democratic House member was taken to the hospital on Tuesday night after attending President Donald Trumps address to Congress. He was later pronounced dead.
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Arturo Holmes/Getty; Andrew Harnik/Getty
This comes as a shock to everyone, said Whitmire, as he asked that flags across Houston be lowered to half-staff. 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.
No one really knows how close Sylvester and I were, he continued. Weve been together in good times and bad times. He asked me to speak at his mothers funeral. I was there when [his daughter] Ashley was born, he was there when [my children] Whitney and Sarah were born.
Brett Coomer/Houston Chronicle via Getty
Then-Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner distributing relief supplies for Hurricane Harvey on Sept. 3, 2017
Turners cause of death is still unknown. He was previously diagnosed with bone cancer in 2022, and underwent surgery and radiation treatment.
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Turner was mayor of Houston from 2016 to 2024, and saw the city through Hurricane Harvey and the COVID-19 pandemic.
Marcus Ingram/Getty (2)
Texas Rep. Sylvester Turner was elected to fill late Rep. Sheila Jackson Lees longtime seat in November 2024
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He was a lifelong resident of Houston, and attended the University of Houston for his undergraduate degree before studying at Harvard Law School.
Turner is survived by his daughter, Ashley Page Turner, and one grandson.
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