FRANKFORT, Ky. — Gov. Andy Beshear, D-Ky., ordered flags at all state office buildings be lowered to half-staff Saturday, Nov. 2 from sunrise to sunset in honor of State Sen. Johnnie Turner, R-Harlan, who died Oct. 22 at 76. 

"Britainy and I are saddened by the news of Sen. Johnnie Turner's passing," Beshear said via social media after Turner's death. "We send our condolences and prayers to his family and friends during this difficult time."

According to State Sen. Phillip Wheeler, R-Pikeville, who announced Turner's passing on Facebook, the state senator died from injuries he sustained in a lawn mower accident at his home in September.

The Republican lawmaker was an attorney, representing Bell, Floyd, Harlan, Knott and Letcher counties in eastern Kentucky. He won election to the state Senate in 2020, ousting a Democratic incumbent with the same last name.

Turner defeated two challengers in the Republican primary in May and was facing a challenge by independent candidate David Suhr in the November election, but Turner announced Suhr withdrew from the race in October. A write-in vote will determine his senate seat in the Nov. 5 general election. Turner served in the Kentucky House of Representatives from 1999 to 2002.

Turner was also a defender of the coal industry, once the backbone of the eastern Kentucky economy. He served as a U.S. Army Medic from 1967 to 1969 and graduated from the University of Kentucky Law School in 1977. 

Beshear's office said Turner's funeral will be held Saturday morning at Holy Trinity Church in Harlan, followed by burial at Resthaven Cemetery in Keith.