This is really sad. Stephanie Tubbs Jones was very respected in Cleveland. She was a great lady and really loved her community! I had jury duty back in the early 90's, she was a top judge at that time. She took the time to come in and thank the jury pool for doing their service to their country...it stuck with me! I also saw her in person at a rallys for Hillary Clinton! This is quite a loss



(CNN) -- Rep. Stephanie Tubbs Jones, the first black woman to represent Ohio in the U.S. House of Representatives, died Wednesday after suffering brain hemorrhaging caused by an aneurysm, medical officials said.


Rep. Stephanie Tubbs Jones, D-Ohio, suffered an aneurysm Tuesday evening.

Tubbs Jones, a 58-year-old Democrat in her fifth term representing parts of Cleveland and its suburbs, suffered the aneurysm Tuesday evening while driving in Cleveland Heights, Ohio, her staff said.

She was rushed to East Cleveland's Huron Hospital, where a team of doctors determined Wednesday morning that she had "very limited brain function," said Dr. Gus Kious, the hospital's chief of staff.

Wednesday afternoon, before Tubbs Jones died, Kious said that the aneurysm was in "an inaccessible part of her brain" and that she was in critical condition.

She died at 6:12 p.m. ET Wednesday after her condition declined "throughout the course of the day and into this evening," according to a joint statement from her family, Huron Hospital and the Cleveland Clinic.

The congresswoman had a full day of activity Tuesday, according to a statement from her office, "including planning for an upcoming forum on electoral reform, scheduled for September 4, 2008, at Cleveland State University."

Ohio Democratic Party Chairman Chris Redfern called Tubbs Jones a "trailblazer" on Wednesday.
"Today, I join the people of Cleveland in mourning the passing of a great and wonderful public servant," Redfern said.

Tubbs Jones built a reputation in Congress for speaking out. In 2003, she was the only Ohioan in Congress to vote against a resolution supporting U.S. troops in Iraq.

She said she voted "no" because the resolution connected Iraq to the September 11 terrorist attacks and declared that Iraq poses a continued threat to the United States. She said that neither of those claims had been proved.

"Our veterans deserve better than lip service," she said.

She stepped up her national political role in 2004, assisting the presidential campaign of Sen. John Kerry, especially in battleground states. She also helped shape her party's platform, traveling the country as a co-chair of the Democratic National Committee.

In early January 2005, Tubbs Jones led an unsuccessful fight against certifying Ohio's tally in the 2004 presidential election, citing voting irregularities. Lawmakers voted down the challenge, allowing President Bush to carry the state by about 70,000 votes and sealing his 286-251 victory in the Electoral College.

Tubbs Jones was one of the most ardent supporters of Sen. Hillary Clinton's 2008 run for the White House. After Clinton bowed out of the race in June, she endorsed Sen. Barack Obama, now the presumptive Democratic nominee.

Tubbs Jones, a superdelegate, had been scheduled to attend the Democratic National Convention next week in Denver, Colorado.

"She was not only a professional, but she could reach into your soul and shake it," said Rep. Joe Sestak, D-Pennsylvania, who said he met Tubbs Jones at a Clinton rally. "Hillary Clinton was lucky to have a supporter like her."

Born in Cleveland, she started public life as a municipal judge in 1981. She also had been a trial court judge and, for the seven years before her election to Congress, a county prosecutor.

Her husband, Mervyn, died in October 2003 of a heart attack. The couple had one son.

Tubbs Jones would have turned 59 on September 10

This is very sad. I always enjoyed listening to what she had to say. My prayers are with her and her family.

She was a great lady Q!!

Sad news.

geez, why do the good ones always pass on. Her we have "wonderful" people like Stroger, Daley, Emil Jones. the list goes on, people who use and abuse their power. They embarass Illinois. It's nice to have a good guy like Rep Jones once in awhile.

Hillary Clinton praised her in her speech at the Democratic National Convention. Also Stephanie Tubbs Jones son sat next to Bill Clinton during Hillary's speech. They postponed the funeral for Stephanie due to the Convention, because they knew she would have wanted it that way.

No matter what your politics are, a person that serves their community deserves respect, this lady earned her respect ten fold!