Stephanie Tubbs Jones came on my radar in 1990 when, as a relatively young and little-known Cuyahoga County Judge, she mounted a progressive challenge to a conservative Republican justice on the Ohio Supreme Court.

It was an uphill race, and a thankless one at a time when the Ohio Democratic Party was stumbling into a period of deep decline.

But Jones kept the contest close, and she made an impression.

As an editor on an Ohio newspaper during that campaign, I got to know this remarkable woman as a rare political player: someone who was smart and connected but also fearless.

I did not always see eye-to-eye with Tubbs Jones, who has died unexpectedly at age 58 from a brain hemorrhage. We disagreed at times on issues, and on endorsements that she made. But we usually agreed, especially when she cast a series of brave -- and lonely -- anti-war votes around the time that George Bush ordered the invasion of Iraq.

Stephanie Tubbs Jones frequently displayed the sort of political courage that put her at odds not just with her president and his party but, at times, even with her own party.

That courage was most evident when, after the disputed 2004 presidential vote in her home state, Tubbs Jones led the House floor fight against certification of President Bush's re-election.

When critics attempted to portray the Congressional challenge to the certification of the results as an attempt to reverse the result of the 2004 election in Ohio, and by extension nationally, Tubbs Jones, explained that, "This objection does not have at its root the hope or even the hint of overturning or challenging the victory of the president." The point, said Tubbs Jones, was to expose the fundamental flaws in the current system and to highlight the need for reform.

California Senator Barbara Boxer, who joined 31 House members in objecting to the counting of Ohio's 20 electoral votes for Bush, said she was inspired by the cry for "electoral justice" raised by Tubbs Jones.

For her part, Tubbs Jones asked at the time: "How can we possibly tell millions of Americans who registered to vote, who came to the polls in record numbers... to simply get over it and move on?"

Tubbs Jones is still perturbed about the 2004 election. She joined New York Democratic Sen. Hillary Clinton in March to introduce a 65-page bill called Count Every Vote Act of 2007, which would make Election Day a public holiday, enhance voter fraud penalties and ban chief state election officials and voting system manufacturers from engaging in political activities that pertain to the federal elections they oversee.

Tubbs Jones was dismissed as a sore loser and a radical by some. But, Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur said, "She took a very unpopular position and disturbed the regular order of things to do what she thought was right. History will prove her to be correct."

Typically, Tubbs Jones was unwilling to wait for history to to correct the problems of our politics.

With New York Senator Hillary Clinton, her friend and ally, the Ohio congresswoman introduced the Count Every Vote Act (CEVA) with the purpose of insuring that there would be no more Ohios, no more Floridas, no more denials of democracy in presidential elections.

The CEVA bill proposed steps to

* make Election Day a national holiday

* make it easier to register to vote, including universal Election Day registration

* improve security for electronic voting machines, including accessible voter-verified paper records and audit requirements

* enhance voter fraud penalties

* support initiatives to reduce long waiting lines at the polls

* ensure equitable allocation of election resources

* expand and improve provisional balloting options

* reduce partisanship and conflicts of interest in election administration by banning top state election officials and manufacturers of voting systems from engaging in political activities related to the federal elections they oversee

* expand and adequately support poll worker training and civic education.

There will be many tributes to the woman who sponsored this important legislation.

But it would be difficult to imagine a greater tribute than for the House and Senate to pull the Count Every Vote Act out of committee, pass it and establish a measure of the electoral justice that was so ardently championed by Stephanie Tubbs Jones.

Comments (13)

1. I think the greatest honor would be to name the Count Every Vote Act after Ms. Tubbs. Aneurysms really are sneaky and silent killers, and can honestly strike anyone at any time. Perhaps an impetus will form to bring her ideas into fruition.

   Posted by yutsano at 08/21/2008 @ 12:32am

2. "Just to show you what the "will and votes of the people" mean to the Undemocratic party, our governor gave his Superduper vote for Obamanation when the state clearly was 70% voting for Hillary in the primary before he won it nationwide! Now that is clearly how the "fix is in" for Obamanation!"

   Why would Republican superdelegates (do they have any) be voting at the Democratic convention?

   Posted by onthehelm at 08/21/2008 @ 12:43am

3. A very nice tribute Mr. Nichols.

   Well done.

   It seems there have been alot recently.

   And, unfortunately, a few more soon to come.

   Posted by Benchrest at 08/21/2008 @ 01:12am

4. Curious, did she endorse Clinton or The One? Posted by 2HAPPY at 08/21/2008 @ 12:30am |

   Reagan isn't running this time.

   -----

   Lets hope bringing her name into the public ear will gain some traction for her bill. Now, if only IRV could gain some air time.

   RIP

   Posted by crabwalk at 08/21/2008 @ 07:18am

5. Well, she sounds like a nice lady and a hard worker for her politics, but...

   the 2004 election was over when John Kerry conceded and if he didn't want to fight Ohio-2004 (especially in light of Gore in 2000), then that was the end of it and should have been the end of it.

   Condolences to her family.

   Posted by Maskdelta at 08/21/2008 @ 08:56am

6. Limbaugh Jokes about Death/"Resurrection" of Congresswoman Tubbs Jones

   (Note: Congresswoman Tubbs Jones died yesterday evening, 8/20/08).

   The following was featured on air (approx 2:40 p.m., 8/20/08) and also online on rushlimbaugh.com (as of this morning) ....

   "Stack of Stuff Quick Hits", from 8/20/08 show (transcript, verbatim excerpts, from Limbaughs 8/20/08 broadcast)

   Story #5: Conflicting Reports on Stephanie Tubbs Jones

   RUSH: ".... Stephanie Tubbs Jones of Cleveland, she's in the hospital. She was a big, big, big Hillary babe, and then she saw the light in June and switched over to Obama, but she's not going to be able to go to the convention, it looks like. She had an aneurysm, I think. ....

   "But now, wait a minute. I don't believe this! For the last 30 minutes, we have been hearing about how Stephanie Tubbs Jones died and the doctor was out there and a family friend went out there and said she was going to go to the convention, but obviously now can't go. Now it says that Stephanie Tubbs Jones is in "critical condition" after an aneurysm. Whoa, folks. If she really died, then she's come alive again. That means... Was Obama anywhere near where this happened to her? .... "

   (Note: limbaugh routinely sarcastically refers to Senator Obama as "the Messiah" .... please write your local media to get this miscreant off the air)

   Posted by Mainesongwriter at 08/21/2008 @ 10:55am

7. Posted by Mainesongwriter at 08/21/2008 @ 10

   HAPPY is our local ditto-head.

   I'm sure he has some...logical and appropriate reason for Mr Limbaugh's comments.

   Right, HAPP?

   Posted by Maskdelta at 08/21/2008 @ 12:20pm

8. Posted by Mainesongwriter at 08/21/2008 @ 10:55am

   Eh it's alright I don't care if he is on the air. Pretty disgusting for someone to use someone's death as a platform for a joke.

   Posted by Cccomfo1 at 08/21/2008 @ 12:35pm

9. Posted by Cccomfo1 at 08/21/2008 @ 12:35pm

   Here's going to be the spin--

   "Oh! Rush was just joking. You libs have NO sense of humor!"

   Regardless, if it was ONE blog out of MILLIONS of left-wingers blogging who said something like that about a stricken Newt or Boehner or even Joe Lieberman....OR if somebody said "Any chance Rush might O.D. next time?"....THEY would scream bloody murder.

   Posted by Maskdelta at 08/21/2008 @ 1:42pm

10. Posted by Maskdelta at 08/21/2008 @ 1:42pm

    Imagine us joking about Reagans death?

    Posted by Cccomfo1 at 08/21/2008 @ 2:31pm

11. Imagine us joking about Reagans death?

    Posted by Cccomfo1 at 08/21/2008 @ 2:31pm

    We should not joke about the death of anyone. However, it seems rather bizarre to me that you would put Congresswoman Jones in some level of comparison with Reagan.

    She had no major accomplishments in life or her political career compared to a man who is the icon of conservativism and one of the top 5 presidents in our history in most polls.

    Posted by lvliberty1 at 08/22/2008 @ 5:07pm

12. I cant believe how much this is NOT about Rep. Tubbs-Jones. Asking about her Superdelegate vote now or making jokes about her, just shows you are an asshole.

    Posted by kdelphi95 at 08/23/2008 @ 2:55pm

13. TheOne doesnt play for well for someone trying to overcome a reputation for a Messiah comoplex does It? Neither does "Babe" nor "the blessed child"--you guys are so off ther wall, it would be funny if it want so sad that he's not further ahead. Hint: Stop force feeding.

    Posted by kdelphi95 at 08/23/2008 @ 2:57pm