Brad Friedman Byon 8/20/2008, 3:27pm PT

Rep. Stephanie Tubbs Jones, 1949 - 2008

The Associated Press is reporting that Ohio Congresswoman Rep. Tubbs Jones died today at 6:12 p.m., in Cleveland.

She stood up for America in 2004, by courageously challenging the seating of Ohio's electors in the U.S. House of Representatives. She will be greatly missed.

UPDATE: Friend of The BRAD BLOG Matthew Segal of the Student Association of Voter Empowerment (SAVE) was among those students at Kenyon College in Knox County, OH, where the last vote was not cast in 2004 until well after 2am. He sent us a video of an Election Integrity event that both he and Tubbs Jones spoke at just weeks ago in Ohio, and noted, "Her discussion of the Ohio election (and electoral vote certification) was riveting." The clip is longer than the YouTube-allowed 10 mins, but we'll try to get it posted somewhere.

With the video, he emailed the following personal thoughts this afternoon while we were on the road, and as the Congresswoman was still clinging to life...

Stephanie Tubbs Jones is not only my political hero but has also been both a friend and mentor to me. I met her back in 2004 after the disastrous voting situation in Ohio. Her office called me and asked me to speak at a rally in Cleveland to endorse her "Count Every Vote" legislation with Senator Clinton. From there, we have kept in touch closely and she has gone out of her way to support the efforts of SAVE and to help empower young voters through legislation. She is a giant in the election reform movement and has fought courageously for a more accessible, transparent and participatory democracy. I have the deepest respect for her. Matthew Segal

Executive Director

Student Association for Voter Empowerment

[UPDATE: Matthew now has more at HuffPo...]

She was a hero. Congress (and America) could use another 534 like her.



