OAN Staff Abril Elfi
11:03 AM – Wednesday, March 5, 2025
Texas Democrat Representative Sylvester Turner has died at the age of 70, expanding the House GOP majority.
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On Wednesday, Representative Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) announced Turner’s (D-Texas) sudden passing at a House Homeland Security hearing.
No cause of death has been publicly released.
However, the lawmaker was previously diagnosed with osteosarcoma, a form of bone cancer — in November 2022.
Turner had been elected as a representative after Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Texas) died in July 2024.
He was also elected mayor of Houston, Texas, two separate times, in 2015 and 2019 — after serving 27 years in the Texas House of Representatives.
Turner had been on Capitol Hill as recently as Tuesday afternoon, ahead of President Donald Trump’s big speech to a joint session of Congress.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) released a statement following Turner’s passing.
“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. 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. In what would be his final message to his beloved constituents last night he reminded us ‘don’t mess with Medicaid,’” Jeffries wrote.
Turner’s death means the House of Representatives now has 218 Republicans and 214 Democrats, with three vacancies.
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