Colleagues mourn Cleveland area’s Rep. Tubb Jones

U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan of Niles called the congresswoman his ‘mom in Congress.’

EAST CLEVELAND (AP) — Democratic U.S. Rep. Stephanie Tubbs Jones, the first black woman to represent Ohio in Congress and a strong critic of the Iraq war, died Wednesday after a brain hemorrhage, a hospital spokeswoman said.

Tubbs Jones, 58, died Wednesday evening of a brain hemorrhage caused by an aneurysm that burst and left her with limited brain function, said Eileen Sheil, a spokeswoman for the Cleveland Clinic, which owns the Huron Hospital in East Cleveland where Tubbs Jones died.

“Throughout the course of the day and into this evening, Congresswoman Tubbs Jones’ medical condition declined,” Sheil said in a statement from the clinic and Tubbs Jones’ family.

The liberal Democrat, first elected in 1998, suffered the hemorrhage while driving her car in Cleveland Heights on Tuesday night, said Dr. Gus Kious, president of Huron Hospital.

A brain aneurysm is a bulge in an artery in the brain. It can leak or rupture, causing bleeding in the brain.

Several news organizations, including The Associated Press, had reported earlier in the day that Tubbs Jones had died. That report, citing a Democratic official, was corrected a few minutes later when a hospital official held a news conference to say she was in critical condition.

Tubbs Jones represented the heavily Democratic 11th District and chaired the ethics committee in the House. She was the first black woman to serve on the powerful Ways and Means Committee, where she opposed President Bush’s tax cuts and his efforts to create personal accounts within Social Security.

Tubbs Jones was a firm supporter of Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton during the primaries until throwing her support behind Sen. Barack Obama in June. She was to have been a superdelegate at next week’s Democratic National Convention in Denver.

The Clinton family released a statement saying they shared a friendship with Tubbs Jones that “deepened through every trial and challenge.”

Obama called Tubbs Jones “an extraordinary American and an outstanding public servant.”

“I am deeply saddened and heartbroken to learn of the death of my friend and colleague the Honorable Stephanie Tubbs Jones,” said U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan of Niles, D-17th.

“She was a tireless advocate for those she represented and a powerful voice in the Ohio congressional delegation. Stephanie Tubbs Jones was full of life, a trendsetter and broke through glass ceilings with every step she took. She was my mom in Congress. She helped me learn my way in Congress, and I will always be grateful for her guidance and support.”

“I’m deeply saddened by today’s news,” said U.S. Rep. Charlie Wilson of St. Clairsville, D-6th. “Congresswoman Stephanie Tubbs Jones was a champion for the residents of the greater Cleveland area and a tireless voice for Ohio. ... She will be sorely missed by the Ohio congressional delegation, by all of Congress, and I will miss working with her.”

Tubbs Jones also was a passionate opponent of the Iraq war, voting in 2002 against authorizing the use of military force.