CNN
–
Sylvester Turner, a Democrat and former Houston mayor, has passed away, according to Houston Mayor John Whitmire. He was 70 years old.
“A surprising civil servant who has influenced millions of people. He rose from poverty, but he never forgot where he came from. It was a terrible loss for the city and a personal loss for me. In a statement posted by the city of Houston, Whitmire said.
House Democrat leaders reported Turner’s death during a meeting Wednesday morning, according to a room source.
Later that day, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and a Democrat colleague held a moment of silence at the afternoon event in honor of Turner, calling his passing tragic and unexpected. Democratic leaders remembered Turner as “a powerful, profound, principled civil servant.”
Turner was sworn into Congress in January after serving for eight years as mayor of Texas’ largest city. Prior to that, he spent 27 years at his Texas home, where he was a great powerhouse on the state appropriations committee.
Turner escaped from retirement to take over the late Sheila Jackson Lee, who was her own strength in Texas politics during her 20 years at the US home.
Turner was the favorite choice Jackson Lee’s children would have in the competitive primary after her death in July 2024. He spent time, like Jackson Lee, securing federal resources for his vast district.
The cause of Turner’s death was not immediately clear. The 70-year-old said in 2022 that he was being treated for bone cancer, but in an interview with the Texas Tribune later that year he declared it “free of cancer.”
His death came as a shock to his fellow Congressional Democrats who sat with him in a presidential joint speech on Tuesday evening. He attended a speech with a guest, a Houston resident, whose 2-year-old daughter has a rare genetic condition and is dependent on Medicaid to survive.
For the past few months, Turner has been openly speaking in his words “hopeful” about how Democrats can recover from their November GOP election victory.
“I simply know what we’re doing,” Turner told the Houston Black American Democrat crowd last month. “The only way we lose is not to use what we have.”
“I’m hoping. I didn’t bow my head. I know the president is in office. A lot of what he did. But I’m optimistic. I’m positive. I don’t have any trouble sleeping at night.”
This story has been updated with additional details.
Veronica Stracqualursi from CNN contributed to this report.
