by SCOTT LAWRENCE | KFDM

Wed, March 5th 2025 at 7:31 AM

Updated Wed, March 5th 2025 at 8:23 AM

FILE – Mayor of Houston Sylvester Turner speaks on stage during the National Urban League Conference Plenary II: State of Black America on July 28, 2023 in Houston, Texas. (Photo by Arturo Holmes/Getty Images for National Urban League)

HOUSTON, Texas (KFDM) — Former Houston mayor and current U.S. Congressman Sylvester Turner, who ran for the seat once held by the late Sheila Jackson Lee, has died.

Houston Mayor John Whitmire made the announcement at the beginning of Wednesday’s city council meeting.

Turner attended Rodeo Houston Tuesday and was in the House chamber that evening for President Donald Trump’s speech. Whitmire said Turner was taken to a hospital and died late Tuesday night.

Turner served 27 years in the Texas House and was elected Houston mayor in 2015. He served two terms in that position.

He won election last November to fill Jackson Lee’s seat in District 18.

Sylvester Turner was 70 years old.