Rep. Sylvester Turner, a Democrat from Texas, died Tuesday night, sources confirmed to NOTUS. He was 70.
Turner, who was elected to fill Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee’s seat this past November, served in Congress for only two months. Prior to that, he was mayor of Houston for 8 years.
House Minority Whip Katherine Clark announced Turner’s death at Democrats’ whip meeting Wednesday morning, sources told NOTUS.
Turner was seen at the Capitol Tuesday, where he shared a video introducing his guest for President Donald Trump’s address to a joint session of Congress. Turner brought Houston resident Angela Hernandez, whose daughter relies on Medicaid.
His death leaves the Democratic caucus with a smaller minority, as Republicans control the chamber with the narrowest of margins.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott is now tasked with ordering a special election, according to the state’s election code. A special election will be held 36 days after Abbott issues an order, with all qualifying candidates, regardless of party affiliation, appearing on the ballot. If no candidate wins a majority vote at that time, Abbott will have to order a run-off election between the race’s top two candidates.
House Democrats took to X to express their condolences.
“I’m saddened to hear of the passing of my colleague, Congressman Sylvester Turner,” Rep. Terri Sewell of Alabama wrote. “He leaves behind an extraordinary legacy of service as Mayor of Houston and the Representative for Texas’ 18th Congressional District. May he Rest in Peace.”
During Turner’s time in Congress, he repeatedly voted against Trump’s policy priorities.
He was among the few first-term Democratic lawmakers who voted against the Laken Riley Act, a controversial immigration bill that passed both chambers of Congress with bipartisan support. He also voted against last month’s high-stakes House budget resolution, along with the other 214 members of the Democratic caucus.
Turner served on the Homeland Security Committee and the Science, Space and Technology Committee. He was also a member of the moderate New Democrat Coalition and the Congressional Black Caucus.
Turner introduced two pieces of legislation while in office — both backed by bipartisan support. One bill, the “DHS Cybersecurity On-the-Job Training Program Act,” prescribed training for federal employees who are not currently in cybersecurity positions to help fill cyber vacancies across the federal government. The other, the “Due Process Continuity of Care Act,” aimed to retain Medicaid coverage for detained individuals awaiting trial. Turner also co-sponsored 49 other pieces of legislation introduced in the House.
The cause of Turner’s death hasn’t been confirmed yet.
Turner was diagnosed with bone cancer in 2022, for which he received treatment. He declared that he was cancer-free later that year.
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Tinashe Chingarande is a NOTUS reporter and an Allbritton Journalism Institute fellow. Daniella Diaz, a reporter at NOTUS, contributed to this report.