Sylvester Turner

Sylvester Turner
Texas State House, District 139
Incumbent
In office
1989 - Present
Term ends
January 13, 2015
Years in position	24
Party	Democratic
Compensation
Base salary	$7,200/year
Per diem	$150/day
Elections and appointments
Last election	November 6, 2012
First elected	1988
Next election	November 4, 2014
Term limits	N/A
Personal
Birthday	September 27, 1954
Place of birth	Houston, TX
Religion	Baptist
Websites
Office website

Sylvester Turner is a Democratic member of the Texas House of Representatives, representing District 139 since 1989. He served as the Speaker Pro Tempore from 2003 to 2009.

Biography

Turner is an Attorney with Barnes and Turner. He has worked as an Adjunct Professor at Thurgood Marshall School of Law, Associate Attorney at Fulbright and Jaworski, and a Seminar Lecturer at South Texas College of Law and University of Houston Law School's Continuing Legal Education Program.

Turner is a member of the Acres Home Citizens Chamber of Commerce, American Cancer Society Board, Brookhollow Baptist Church, Coalition for School Improvement, and the United Negro College Fund.

Committee assignments

2013-2014

At the beginning of the 2013 legislative session, Turner served on the following committees:

Texas Committee Assignments, 2013
• Appropriations, Vice-chair
• State Affairs

2011-2012

Turner served on the following Texas House of Representatives committees:

Texas Committee Assignments, 2011
• Appropriations, Vice-chair
• State Affairs

Sponsored legislation

• HB 630 - Relating to the regulation and governing bodies of independent organizations that govern power regions.
• HB 631 - Relating to the regulation of retail electric providers.
• HB 823 - Relating to the authority of a peace officer to take a blood specimen from a vehicle operator to test for alcohol concentration or other intoxicating substances.
• HB 1267 - Relating to a prohibition on certain uses of a wireless communication device while operating a motor vehicle.

Controversies

Working for CenterPoint

Turner, a lawyer, was on retainer for CenterPoint Energy[1], a power company, at the same time he served on the state House Committee on State Affairs, which has jurisdiction over bills that would affect power providers.

Turner has often called for stricter regulations for utility companies.

Turner told the news Web site Texas Watchdog that he did not feel his work for CenterPoint posed a conflict of interest. Turner disclosed the relationship between his firm, Barnes & Turner, and CenterPoint on his 2008 and 2009 personal financial disclosure forms.

Fined by Ethics Commission

In March 2010, Turner was fined $4,500 by the Texas Ethics Commission for political contribution reporting discrepancies in 2007 and 2008. A report by the Commission show that Turner had a number of violations, including under-reporting amounts, failing to disclose correct reimbursements to staff, and failing to accurately report use of personal funds for political purposes.

Elections

2012

See also: Texas House of Representatives elections, 2012

Turner won re-election in the 2012 election for Texas House of Representatives, District 139. Turner was unopposed in the May 29 primary and defeated Sam Brocato (R) in the general election which took place on November 6, 2012.

Texas House of Representatives, District 139, General Election, 2012
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Sylvester Turner Incumbent	77.1%	39,022
	Republican	Sam Brocato	22.9%	11,604
Total Votes				50,626

2010

See also: Texas House of Representatives elections, 2010

Turner won re-election in District 139. He was unopposed in the March 2 Democratic primary and faced no opposition in the November 2 general election.

Texas House of Representatives, District 139 2010 General election results
Candidates		Votes	Percent
Sylvester Turner (D)		20,842	100%

2008

On November 4, 2008, Turner won re-election to the Texas House of Representatives from the 139th District, receiving 35,220 votes with no opposition. He raised $472,175 for his campaign.

Texas House of Representatives, District 139
Candidates		Votes	Percent
Sylvester Turner (D)		35,220	100.00%

Campaign donors

2012

Campaign donor information is not yet available for this year.

2010

In 2010, Turner received $360,685 in campaign donations. The top contributors are listed below.

Texas House of Representatives 2010 election - Campaign Contributions
Top contributors to Sylvester Turner's campaign in 2010
Perry, Bob J	$95,000
Perry, Robert	$10,000
Comcast	$7,000
Plumbers & Pipefitters Local 68	$6,000
AT&T	$6,000
Total Raised in 2010	$360,685

2008

Turner raised $472,175 in 2008. His top 5 campaign contributors are listed below.

Contributor	2008 total
Bob J Perry	$66,000
AT&T	$15,000
Texans for Lawsuit Reform	$12,500
McConnell Jones Lanier & Murphy	$7,500
Plumbers & Pipefitters Local 68	$7,500

Scorecards

Empower Texans Fiscal Responsibility Index

Empower Texans produces the Fiscal Responsibility Index as "a measurement of how lawmakers perform on size and role of government issues." The index uses "exemplar votes on core budget and free enterprise issues that demonstrate legislators' governing philosophy." Legislators are graded along a standard grading scale, receiving grades A through F based on their performance during the legislative session.

2011

Sylvester Turner received a grade of F on the 2011 Fiscal Responsibility Index.

External links

Suggest a link

• Sylvester Turner's campaign website
• Texas House of Representatives - Rep. Turner
• Biography from Project Vote Smart
• Legislative profile from Project Vote Smart
• Campaign Contributions: 2008, 2006, 2004, 2002, 2000, 1998
• Freedom Speaks profile
• Texas State Directory profile
• Texas Political Almanac HD 139 page
• Texas Tribune profile & bio
• Vote-TX.org profile
• State Surge profile
• Sylvester Turner on Facebook
• Sylvester Turner on Twitter

References

Political offices
Preceded by '	Texas House District 139 1989–present	Succeeded by NA