His mother was a teacher in the Wayne School system in Huber Heights and his father worked as a member of IUE Local 801 for 42 years after serving in the military.

Upon taking office, Turner focused on attracting business to the city and on redeveloping vacant and underutilized real estate packages known as brownfields.

During Turner's mayoralty, Dayton reached an agreement to construct a baseball stadium for a class A minor league team affiliated with the Cincinnati Reds.

Veterinarian Stephanie Studebaker defeated local bankruptcy attorney David Fierst and recalled Waynesville mayor Charles W. Sanders.

After her withdrawal, four Democrats entered a special primary to face Turner, won by former assistant United States attorney Richard Chema.

Turner again focused largely on economic issues of job creation and protection for workers affected by the national and regional recession.

In a difficult political climate for Republicans, Turner defeated Mitakides with 64% of the vote, his largest margin of victory in any election.

The group was formed to work with the Bush administration to "foster economic development and redevelopment and streamline government services in America's cities to help them prosper and grow.

This effort proved successful in 2008, when the Air Force announced that 1,000 jobs and over $230 million in federal funding would move to Wright-Patterson AFB.

[18] On July 7, 2008, Turner wrote an op-ed in the Hillsboro Times-Gazette in support of the Post-9/11 Veterans Educational Assistance Act of 2008, referred to as the GI Bill.

It was introduced in the House by Turner and Miller as co-chairs of the Congressional Historic Preservation Caucus and in the Senate by Clinton and Domenici.

Preserve America supports "community efforts to demonstrate sustainable uses of their historic and cultural sites, focusing on economic and educational opportunities related to heritage tourism."

The Save America's Treasures grant program "funds 'bricks-and-mortar' projects by helping local communities develop sustainable resource management strategies and sound business practices for the continued preservation and use of heritage assets.

[26] Turner was highly critical of the Obama administration's Phased Adaptive Approach[27] and Nuclear Posture Review regarding the protection and defense of the U.S. and allies.

That year, Turner pushed for the establishment of the National Advanced Air Mobility Center of Excellence in Ohio, catalyzing the facility's eventual construction at the Springfield–Beckley Municipal Airport.

He had previously "generally backed gun-rights measures during his nine terms in the House", earning a 93% approval and "A" rating from the NRA Political Victory Fund (NRA-PVF) in prior years.

[37] Turner was one of three Ohio Republicans appointed to an Intelligence Committee that examined whether Trump had improperly withheld aid to Ukraine.

[41] Following accusations that Donald Trump had kept classified documents at Mar-a-Lago after his presidency ended, Turner said on Fox News that he thought the matter was "more like a bookkeeping issue than it is a national security threat".

"The president's statements concerning 'blood bath' were about what would happen in the auto industry if actually the Chinese manufacturers who are coming into Mexico were permitted to import into the United States," Turner said.

Turner did not join the majority of Republican members of Congress who signed an amicus brief in support of Texas v. Pennsylvania, a lawsuit filed at the United States Supreme Court contesting the results of the 2020 presidential election.

In June 2020, Turner cosponsored the Holding China Accountable Act, which would restrict visas for Chinese nationals entering the United States to study, work, or attend business meetings in “science, technology, engineering, mathematics, or a related field.”[46] On July 19, 2022, Turner and 46 other Republican representatives voted for the Respect for Marriage Act, which would codify the right to same-sex marriage in federal law.

In both 2008 and 2010, Turner was listed as one of the "most corrupt members of Congress" by the Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington for "enrichment of self, family, or friends" and "solicitation of gifts".

[59][60] According to analysis conducted by the Dayton Daily News in 2016,[61] when Turner came to Congress in 2002, he reported between $153,026 and $695,000 worth of assets on his financial disclosure form.

The paper credited his second marriage to an energy lobbyist as a contributing reason for the increase, since her assets as well as his were listed on his 2016 financial disclosure form.

Their relationship raised red flags[62] when Turner was accused of authoring natural gas legislation that might benefit her employer at the time, Cheniere Energy.

At multiple times during his tenure in Congress, Turner has faced protests from constituents for refusing to host public town hall events,[63][64][65][66] presumably over fear that the events would draw strong backlash from constituents over Turner's repeated efforts to repeal the Affordable Care Act, as Republicans in neighboring districts[67] and around the country[68][69] had experienced.