Sylvester Turner

Sylvester Turner, a former mayor of Houston who was sworn in as a U.S. representative in January 2025, died on Tuesday night in Washington. He was 70 and had been in attendance at the president’s speech on Capitol Hill. Turner, a Democrat, was a veteran of Texas politics. He served in the State Legislature from 1989 to 2016, when he became mayor of Houston. He served two terms before leaving office in January 2024. Sylvester Turner was born on Sept. 27, 1954, in Houston. He graduated as valedictorian from his high school, then received a bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of Houston in 1977 and a law degree from Harvard in 1980. He returned to Houston to work as a trial lawyer, first for an established firm and then for his own firm, Barnes & Turner, which focused on commercial law and personal injury litigation. His marriage to Cheryl Turner ended in divorce. Survivors include their daughter, Ashley Turner-Captain.