Gay rights supporter Stephanie Tubbs Jones dies
Ohio Representative and Democratic super-delegate Stephanie Tubbs Jones has died after suffering an aneurysm while driving her car on Tuesday night.
Tubbs Jones was widely known as one of Senator Hillary Clinton’s most avid supporters in the 2008 presidential race before switching her allegiance to Barack Obama in June.
According to a press statement released by the congresswoman’s office, 58 year-old Rep. Stephanie Tubbs Jones, D-Ohio, reportedly suffered a brain aneurysm while driving her car in Cleveland Heights, Ohio.
CBS News affiliate WOIO in Cleveland reported on Wednesday morning that Jones was on life support and her outlook was not positive.
CQPolitics.com reports that Tubbs Jones passed away later in the morning, according to a senior House Democratic aide.
A police officer reportedly spotted Tubbs Jones driving erratically at high speed on a road in Cleveland Heights on Tuesday night. The officer attempted to pull over the car, which then veered slowly off the road.
Tubbs Jones was found at the wheel, unconscious but breathing, according to Cleveland.com She was transported by emergency services to Cleveland’s Huron Hospital, where doctors determined she had suffered an aneurysm—a burst blood vessel in the brain.
She was elected in 1998 as the first Black woman to represent Ohio in Congress.
During the 2008 presidential primaries, Tubbs Jones was one of Hillary Clinton’s biggest supporters.
However, she changed her allegiance to Barack Obama in June after he was established as the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee.
The Ohio congresswoman was scheduled to appear as a superdelegate in support of Obama at the Democratic National Convention in Denver next week.
A five-term Democrat, Tubbs Jones was a avid supporter of LGBT rights and was given a 100% rating by the Human Rights Campaign for her pro-gay-rights stance.
During her time in office, Tubbs Jones voted against banning gay adoptions in DC, strongly favored same-sex domestic partnership benefits, fought for increased funding for AIDS treatment & prevention and supported more funding and stricter sentencing for hate crimes.
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