Newly Elected Texas Congressman, Who Replaced Late Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, Dies Hours After Attending Trump’s Speech

Texas Rep. Sylvester Turner, the former mayor of Houston, has died suddenly at 70 years old, just two months after joining Congress.

Current Houston Mayor John Whitmire announced Turner’s death at the beginning of a city council meeting on Wednesday, March 5, per local news reports.

According to Whitmire, the Democratic House member was taken to the hospital on Tuesday night after attending President Donald Trump’s address to Congress. He was later pronounced dead.

“This comes as a shock to everyone,” said Whitmire, as he asked that flags across Houston be lowered to half-staff. “I would ask Houstonians to come together, pray for his family, join us in celebrating this remarkable public servant. Celebrate his life, which we will be doing.”

“No one really knows how close Sylvester and I were,” he continued. “We’ve been together in good times and bad times. He asked me to speak at his mother’s funeral. I was there when [his daughter] Ashley was born, he was there when [my children] Whitney and Sarah were born.”

Turner’s cause of death is still unknown. He was previously diagnosed with bone cancer in 2022, and underwent surgery and radiation treatment.

Turner was mayor of Houston from 2016 to 2024, and saw the city through Hurricane Harvey and the COVID-19 pandemic.

He was elected to represent Texas’s 18th congressional district in November 2024, following the death of longtime Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, who was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in June 2024.

He was a lifelong resident of Houston, and attended the University of Houston for his undergraduate degree before studying at Harvard Law School.

Turner is survived by his daughter, Ashley Page Turner, and one grandson.