Former state Rep. Garnet Coleman, who represented Houston for more than three decades in the Texas House, has died. He was 65.
Coleman died of natural causes on Wednesday, his family said in a statement. He had long been living with serious complications from diabetes.
The Coleman family asked that “he be remembered for his service, dedication to his family, and never-ending passion for uplifting all Texans,” saying, “His work reflected a sustained commitment to people too often left without access to care or opportunity.”
The Democrat grew up in a prominent Black family in Houston’s Third Ward and went on to represent his home neighborhood as well as much of downtown Houston, Midtown, and the Hobby Airport area in the House.
Elected in 1991 when he was just 30, Coleman was among the most senior lawmakers in the state Legislature upon his retirement in 2022.
A chief advocate for healthcare access, Coleman used his position as a lead budget writer to push for increased funding for mental health and HIV/AIDS services. His work also helped establish the state children’s Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Programs in 1999.
“He is widely deemed by everyone, Democrats and Republicans alike, as probably one of the foremost experts and champions of access to health care,” the late Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner, who served alongside Coleman in the state House for about 25 years, told the Chronicle in 2021.
Coleman was also passionate about affordable housing issues and was the driving force behind the Midtown Redevelopment Authority’s efforts to buy land for affordable housing in Third Ward to slow gentrification in the historic Black community.
This is a developing story and will be updated.