HOUSTON — Former Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner, the Democratic nominee to replace the late Sheila Jackson Lee in Congress in November, made an appeal for conservative-leaning independents to vote for Kamala Harris during the opening day of the Democratic National Convention Monday.
Turner served in the state legislature and eight years as Houston’s mayor before his successor, John Whitmire, was sworn in earlier this year. Turner is a delegate to the DNC in Chicago, which runs until Thursday. Follow our live Day One blog here.
“Do you want somebody as President of the United States that’s dividing communities, that’s talking down? Is that the right role model for your kids? So what I would say to conservatives – be conservative, there’s nothing wrong with that,” Turner said. “But there comes a time that you can be conservative, and you can be extreme. And I would say to conservatives, ‘do you feel like there’s a place for you with the Republican party where it is now on the extremes?’ So if you want to be conservative, sometimes like a stock market, you have to recalibrate, and the best way to recalibrate is to join with conservatives in voting Democrat this year.”
“Right now, for conservatives that I talk to, that I work with, they’re saying that where the Republican party is now, there’s not a home for them, and what I’m saying with the Democratic party, the tent is big, there’s a place for you,” Turner added.
Watch our full interview with Turner from the DNC here:
He said he’s hopeful Vice President Harris and her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, can be successful on Election Day.
“I’m excited by the Harris-Walz ticket, I think they will be successful, but you’ve got to knock on the doors and you’ve got to tell your story,” Turner said.
Turner will face Republican nominee Lana Centoze Nov. 5 after he beat former Houston city councilmember Amanda Edwards in a runoff election to determine the Democratic nominee to replace the late Sheila Jackson Lee.