Robetr L. "Bob" Turner (2 May 1941-) was a member of the US House of Representatives (R-NY 9) from 13 September 2011 to 3 January 2013, succeeding Anthony Weiner and preceding Yvette Clarke.
Biography[]
Robert L. Turner was born in Queens, New York City, New York in 1941, the son of New Deal Democrat parents who became split-ticket voters during the post-John F. Kennedy years. He served in the US Army from 1962 to 1965 before working in the advertising and television industries for decades, and he served as President of Multimedia Entertainment from 1991 to 1995 and created The Jerry Springer Show, launched new versions of Family Feud and To Tell the Truth, and produced several other programs. He remained in the business world until his early 60s, when he decided to turn to politics as a Republican, having been involved in Young Americans for Freedom. In 2011, he was elected to the US House of Representatives in a special election called after Anthony Weiner's ignominious resignation, using the Park51 controversy to defeat his progressive Democratic opponent David Weprin; he won strong support from Orthodox Jews (winning the majority of the Jewish vote) and from Jewish Democratic politicians Ed Koch and Dov Hikind. Turner supported cuts in federal spending, opposed privatizing Medicare and Social Security, supported slashing capital gains taxes to zero, proposed eliminating the Department of Agriculture and the Enviromental Protection Agency and reducing the size of the Department of Education, and supported hydrofracking in Upstate New York. In 2012, his district was redistricted to include more African-Americans and be more Democratic rather than more Jewish as the Republicans had hoped, leading to Turner mounting a failed primary bid for the US Senate.