First-term Rep. Sylvester Turner, D-Texas, died Tuesday night after suffering a medical emergency, according to two House Democratic lawmakers who were informed of his death. He was 70 years old and had just taken the oath of office in January.
At a closed-door Democratic meeting, House Minority Whip Katherine Clark, D-Mass., announced that Turner had died and that his family has been notified, according to one lawmaker who attended the meeting.
Another Democrat who saw Turner in the underground tunnel that connects the Capitol with the Cannon Building said that it appeared Turner was having a medical emergency early Tuesday afternoon. Capitol Police were notified and went to assist him, the lawmaker said.
Turner was elected to Congress in November and served as mayor of Houston from 2016 to 2024. Before that he served more than a quarter century as a state lawmaker.
When longtime Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, D-Texas, died of pancreatic cancer in July of last year, Turner, an ally of the congresswoman, announced he would run for her seat
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