Rep. Sylvester Turner (D-Texas) died late Tuesday after serving just two months and a day in Congress, party officials said Wednesday. He was 70.
Turner’s death was confirmed by his successor as mayor of Houston, John Whitmire, and former Democratic National Committee chairman Jaime Harrison.
A cause of death was not immediately available.
“I’m so heartbroken to learn about the passing of my dear friend Congressman and former Mayor @SylvesterTurner!” Harrison wrote on X. ”We became friends during the DNC Convention Site selection process in 2018. A visionary leader and advocate… I will miss my friend and he will be missed by so many in his beloved Houston, TX. My heartfelt condolences to his family and friends. May he Rest in Peace!”
Turner, who was elected in 2024 to replace longtime Houston-area Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee following her death while in office, had attended President Trump’s speech to a joint session of Congress the night of his passing.
“We were on the floor together last night. You never know for whom the bell will toll next,” Rep. Al Green (D-Texas), who was ejected from the House chamber for repeatedly disrupting Trump’s remarks, told Axios Wednesday. “I’m a little full from losing my friend.”
“I’m just overwhelmed,” Green added. “When I heard [the news], I fell to my knees. I can’t believe it.”
Before being elected to Congress, lifelong Houstonian Turner had spent eight years as mayor of the city after serving for 17 years in the Texas state legislature.
In November 2022, Turner revealed that he had undergone surgery and six weeks of radiation therapy following the discovery of bone cancer in his jaw.
“My message to the current administration for tonight’s State of the Union: ‘Don’t mess with Medicaid,’” Turner wrote in one of his last posts on X. “I am proud to have Angela Hernandez here from our Congressional district as my guest. She is representing and advocating for her daughter Baislee Garcia who has a rare genetic disorder Chromosome 8p: Inversion/Duplication/Deletion.
“Let me be clear: any cuts to Medicaid are a direct attack on families like Angela’s. President Trump and Elon Musk’s push to gut Medicaid is nothing short of a betrayal of the most vulnerable among us. They are playing politics with children’s lives, and I will not stand for it.”
Turner’s death means the House of Representatives now has 218 Republicans and 214 Democrats, with three vacancies. Special elections will be held April 1 to fill two vacancies in Republican-leaning Florida districts.
