Kentucky state senator, 76, dies after driving lawn mower into pool in freak accident: ‘A hard-fought battle’

A Kentucky state senator has died one month after a freak accident in which he fell into a swimming pool while on a riding lawn mower.

Johnnie L. Turner, 76, died Tuesday evening, Republican Kentucky Senate President Robert Stivers announced.

Turner passed away “following a hard-fought battle” with injuries he sustained on Sept. 15, when he accidentally drove a riding mower into the deep end of an empty swimming pool, Stivers said.

Turner, a Republican, was an attorney and a US Army medic, the Kentucky Lantern reported.

He served in the House of Representatives from 1999 through 2002, and was elected to the state Senate for District 29 in 2021.

In recent years, Turner made headlines as he battled for pro-coal industry legislation and other measures to shore up the economy in his district, which took a hit due to cheaper natural gas prices and tougher environmental regulations, CBS News reported.

Because Turner died so close to the Nov. 5 election, his name will still appear on the general election ballot, the outlet said.

His only challenger, an Independent, recently withdrew from the race.

Write-in candidates have until Friday to file for the seat, otherwise a special election will be held to fill the spot.

“Over the past weeks, his remarkable resolve and strength filled the Turner family — and all of us — with optimism, making this loss all the more difficult to bear,” Stivers said of Turner’s death.

“Johnnie spent his life lifting others—whether through his service in the U.S. Army, as a member of the State House of Representatives and State Senate, or in his private legal practice,” he added.

“His unwavering commitment to the people of Eastern Kentucky — his constituents, brothers and sisters in Christ, whom he so fondly referred to as ‘his people’ — was at the heart of everything he did.”

Kentucky House Speaker David Osborne remembered Turner as an “ardent champion and passionate voice for eastern Kentucky.”

Republican Sen. Mitch McConnell praised how Turner “lived his life for others.”

“In recent years, I remember crossing paths with Johnnie to survey the damage left by the devastating floods that hit Eastern Kentucky,” he recalled.

“Johnnie was on the scene, ankle-deep in mud, his equipment from home in tow, ready to help folks in Letcher County. 

“That’s just who he was: a good man who loved the mountains and its people.”

Turner was born on Dec. 25, 1947 and grew up in Harlan County. 

He served in the US Army from 1967-69, and eventually attended Union College and the University of Kentucky College of Law.

He is survived by his wife, three children and grandchildren.