Congressman and former Houston mayor Sylvester Turner died late Tuesday, a spokesperson said Wednesday morning. 

He was 70.

Turner leaves behind a decades-long legacy as an elected official representing the city he was born and raised in. His death also leaves the 18th Congressional District seat vacant for the second time in a year due to a death. 

(Top left) Former Mayor Sylvester Turner speaks with Amit Bose, FRA Administrator, at left, during a press conference to announce $36.9 million in funding awarded to Houston through the railroad crossing elimination grant program, Wednesday, June 7, 2023, in Houston. (Houston Landing file photo / Antranik Tavitian). (Top right) Former Mayor Sylvester Turner leads a City Council meeting at City Hall, Wednesday, May 24, 2023, in Houston. (Houston Landing file photo / Antranik Tavitian). (Bottom) A book titled, “A Winning Legacy,” dedicated to Former Mayor Sylvester Turner is available at tables during his last state of the city address on Wednesday, Sept. 27, 2023, in Houston. (Houston Landing file photo / Joseph Bui)
(Left photo) Former Mayor Sylvester Turner gives opening remarks during a press conference about contamination in the fifth ward by Union Pacific and steps from the city to help residents at Houston City Hall, Thursday, July 13, 2023, in Houston. (Right photo) Former Mayor Sylvester Turner speaks with Joetta Stevenson, lifelong Fifth Ward resident and cancer survivor, after the press conference. (Houston Landing file photo / Antranik Tavitian)
Former Mayor Sylvester Turner speaks during a press conference to announce a Harris County gun buy back event, Wednesday, Nov. 8, 2023, in Houston. (Houston Landing file photo / Antranik Tavitian)
(Left photo) Senator John Whitmire, Former Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner and Houston Educational Support Personnel president Wretha Thomas attend a rally against a TEA take over of Houston ISD, Friday, March 3, 2023, in Houston. (Right photo) Texas Governor Greg Abbott, left, listens to former Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner, right, answer a question from a member of the press at the grand opening of the TMC3 Collaborative Building and the launch of Helix Park, Thursday, Oct. 26, 2023, in Houston. (Houston Landing file photo / Marie D. De Jesús)
(Top left) Former Mayor Sylvester Turner, at left, speaks with Commissioner Lesley Briones, Harris County Precinct 4, after a press conference to announce a Harris County gun buy back event, Wednesday, Nov. 8, 2023, in Houston. (Houston Landing file photo /Antranik Tavitian). (Top right) Project leaders, from left to right: John Middleton, the interim chief operating officer of Houston Public Library; Jacqueline Bostic, chairwoman of the Fourth Ward Redevelopment Authority and the Tax Increment Reinvestment Zone No. 14; Sylvester Turner, Former Mayor of Houston; Eileen Lawal, president of the board of directors for the Houston Freedmen’s Town Conservancy; Miguell Ceasar, Manage and Archivist at Houston Public Library’s African American Library at The Gregory School; and Sharon Fletcher, the acting executive director of the Houston Freedmen’s Town Conservancy, cut the ribbon to unveil the new visitor’s center and preserved row houses, on May 30, 2024. (Houston Landing file photo / Meridith Kohut). Former Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner speaks during Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee’s funeral at Fallbrook Church, Thursday, Aug. 1, 2024, in Houston. (Houston Landing file photo /Antranik Tavitian)
Sylvester Turner fans celebrate after he secured the nomination to be the next Democratic Congressional District 18 representative Tuesday, Aug. 13, 2024, in Houston. (Houston Landing file photo / Mark Felix)
(Left photo) Sylvester Turner celebrates with Erica Lee Carter (daughter of Sheila Jackson-Lee) after securing the nomination for the next Democratic Congressional District 18 representative Tuesday, Aug. 13, 2024, in Houston. (Houston Landing file photo / Mark Felix). (Right photo) Sylvester Turner celebrates with family and friends after securing the nomination to be the next Democratic Congressional District 18 representative Tuesday, Aug. 13, 2024, in Houston. (Houston Landing file photo / Mark Felix).
Sylvester Turner waits to hear the results of a vote to determine the next Democratic Congressional District 18 representative Tuesday, Aug. 13, 2024, in Houston. (Houston Landing file photo / Mark Felix)

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Antranik Tavitian is a photojournalist at the Houston Landing. He previously worked at The Arizona Republic, where he covered the border, Arizona politics, Mezcal production in Oaxaca, Mexico, and Phoenix’s...