Update: She just passed away. Damn what more can happen!
U.S. Rep. Stephanie Tubbs Jones of Cleveland has suffered an aneurysm and is in a hospital.Spokeswoman Nicole Williams says Tubbs Jones had the aneurysm while driving her car in Cleveland Heights on Tuesday. She says the congresswoman's condition has been stabilized at Cleveland Clinic's Huron Hospital in East Cleveland.
Further details weren't immediately available.
Tubbs Jones was first elected in 1998, becoming the first black woman to represent Ohio in Congress.
She was one of Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's biggest boosters during the primaries and is a superdelegate at next week's Democratic National Convention in Denver.
She was the only person I wanted to meet at convention.
Comments (8)
Horrible news. I can't remember a week when we've had so many obits.
Talking Points Memo is saying that she is still alive but in critical condition. There was apparently just a press conference to clarify.
Just so sad. She had such a voice and a passion for justice. A great loss, and again one of many this week. Keep safe guys and drive carefully. That's all I can think to say. JMP
CNN also reported that she had passed, but just issued this correction:
(CNN) — Ohio Rep. Stephanie Tubbs Jones remains in critical condition at a Cleveland, Ohio, hospital with limited brain function, but has not died, said Dr. Gus Kious, chief of staff at Huron Hospital.
Democratic sources previously had told CNN Tubbs Jones had died.
Thanks for the updates Guys, we'll keep her in our thoughts & prayers and hope for a complete recovery for the stalwart Dem Congresswoman.
Cheers, JMP
She's in a great clinic. I speak from experience in saying that full recovery after aneurysm is possible - someone very dear to me had a 100% recovery.
Cleveland Clinic is a top notch place - she is in good hands.
Now they are saying she's gone.
The aneurysm was in an inoperable place.
She'll be missed. A most excellent leader.
This is sorry news indeed. And I'd love to think we're about a decade away from better addressing her type of brain aneurysm. But she'll be sorely missed for her energy & dedication to her constituents and for trying to right the wrongs she saw daily. This below via the Huffington Post: JMP
Hilary Rosen
Posted August 20, 2008 | 08:39 PM (EST)
"Stephanie Tubbs Jones was a BIG woman. She was big in her smile, in her motherly warmth, in her blackness, in her womanhood, her passion for Cleveland and in her political smarts. I am grieving her loss today.
We first met when I was working in the music industry and The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame was being built in Cleveland in the early 90's. At the time she was Cuyahoga County Prosecutor. It is hard to believe that was her job because even then, she was everywhere. Making connections, greeting visitors, sharing good stories about the local Republicans.
When she came to Congress we often went to Rock Hall events together. She had more stamina for a party than you could imagine. I will never forget the sight of her practically dancing on the tables when the Flamingos were inducted and screaming like a teenage groupie for "The Shaft" Issac Hayes another year. She was just damn fun.
I will also never forget her willingness to take on the tough fights in Congress and the jobs that others didn't want to do, whether it was Chairing the Ethics Committee; fighting Medicare cuts proposed by the Bush Administration; fighting for the minimum wage; opposing a popular ballot measure in Ohio which discriminated against gays and lesbians. She was so smart that she became a party leader right away when she was elected to Congress. Ohio needed a passionate respected Democrat for their consistently battleground elections and she fit the bill with gusto.
Most of the country got to know her this year when she was a vocal and unyielding supporter of Hillary Clinton's campaign during a primary which tore at the hearts of many black leaders. She wasn't against Barack Obama. She was just FOR Hillary. She was loyal to her girls. It was just a big motherly hug. And they will be so missed."