JACKSON – As her mother, Edna, held the Bible Wednesday morning, Angela Turner took the oath of office for the state Senate seat held by her father, Bennie, since 1993.

“His passing was untimely,” Turner, D-West Point, said after sitting through her first session in the Mississippi Senate. “The thought of following in his footsteps and continuing what he started was something I wanted to do.”

Turner, 41, won a special election last week to replace her father, who died in early December after battling a brain tumor.

In the Senate chamber for her swearing in were her daughter, Kennedy, 11, twin sons, Joshua and Jalen, 8, her sister, Carolyn Karriem, and her fiance’, Moses James of Tupelo.

Like her father, Angela Turner served as the Clay County prosecuting attorney before being elected to the Senate. She was in her second term as prosecuting attorney before winning the special election for the Senate seat.

She also practiced law with her father.

Bennie Turner was a strong advocate for public education. Angela Turner says she shares many of her father’s political views.

“The district needs to be represented well,” Turner said when asked what she hopes to accomplish in the state Senate. “I have intentions to look at legislation using a level head and to apply myself fully.”

Senate District 16 includes all of Clay County and parts of Lowndes, Noxubee and Oktibbeha.

She will take the desk previously occupied by her father, next to Sen. Hob Bryan, D-Amory, her father’s longtime friend who spoke at his funeral.

Lt. Gov. Tate Reeves, who presides over the Senate, will make committee assignments for Turner.

bobby.harrison@journalinc.com