Rep. Sylvester Turner, first-term Democrat, dies at 70

Rep. Sylvester Turner (D-Texas), the former Houston mayor who won a seat in Congress in November, succeeding the late Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D), died Tuesday night. He was 70.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) confirmed Turner’s death Wednesday morning.

“The House Democratic Caucus family is shocked and saddened by the sudden passing of Congressman Sylvester Turner,” Jeffries said in a statement. “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.”

Turner was at the Capitol on Tuesday night for President Trump’s address to a joint session of Congress. The Texas Democrat posted a video on the social platform X with his guest for the speech that night, delivering remarks about protecting Medicaid.

“So please let people know: Don’t mess with Medicaid,” Turner said in the video.

While announcing Turner's death Wednesday morning, Houston Mayor John Whitmire said the congressman was taken to the hospital Tuesday night.

“It’s my duty as the mayor to confirm that Congressman Sylvester Turner, a former mayor, state representative for 24 years, passed away last night. He was working in Washington and was taken to the hospital and he passed,” Whitmire said.

Turner’s death does not have an impact on the vote margins in the House; on any party-line vote with full attendance, Republicans will still be able to afford to lose just one member and still clear the measure.

Turner — who served as mayor of Houston for eight years, from 2016-24 — handedly won his race to represent Texas’s 18th Congressional District in November, filling the seat Jackson Lee had held for nearly three decades. Jackson Lee’s children backed Turner for the job.

Before the general election, a local party meeting of precinct chairs chose Turner to be the nominee in the race.

Prior to serving as mayor of Houston, Turner was a member of the Texas House of Representatives for nearly three decades, serving from 1989 until 2016.

“As the Representative for the 18th Congressional District in Texas, Sylvester followed in the hallowed footsteps of trailblazers like the great Barbara Jordan and our late sister, Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee,” Jeffries said in his statement. “We all stand on the shoulders of these incredible giants and join Texans in mourning the tremendous loss of another iconic leader.”

“Like those before him, Rep. Turner was a fighter until the end – he was present yesterday evening to ensure that the voice of one of his constituents, who relies on Medicaid, was heard,” he added. “In what would be his final message to his beloved constituents last night he reminded us ‘don’t mess with Medicaid.’”

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