Rep. Stephanie Tubbs-Jones, LGBT Ally, Dies Of Aneurysm At Age 58

Congresswoman Stephanie Tubbs-Jones (D-OH), a staunch friend of LGBT causes, has died at age 58 of a brain hemorrhage caused by an aneurysm.

The 58-year-old Tubbs Jones was the first black woman to represent Ohio in Congress and a strong supporter of LGBT civil rights and a critic of the Iraq war. She was a co-sponsor of H.R. 2015, the fully inclusive version of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, and H.R. 1592, legislation that would expand federal hate crimes protections to include crimes motivated by anti-LGBT bias.

She supported repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, the ban on gays serving openly in the military, and was an opponent of amending the Constitution to bar same-sex marriage. Congresswoman Tubbs Jones consistently earned a 100 percent score on the Human Rights Campaign Congressional Scorecard.

“Stephanie repeatedly demonstrated her friendship on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives where she was a boisterous, eloquent and effective voice for equality, voting rights and Democratic values,” said Jon Hoadley, Executive Director, Stonewall Democrats. “Our organization was proud to call her a champion, and so many of our members were blessed to call her a friend,” said Hoadley.

Tubbs-Jones was to have been a superdelegate at the Democratic convention. Initially a strong supporter of Hillary Clinton, she enthusiastically backed Barack Obama once Clinton withdrew. With Arkansas Democratic chair Bill Gwatney, she is the second Democratic superdelegate to die in as many weeks.

How To Influence $uperdelegates

Well, ain't this peachy:

Many of the superdelegates who could well decide the Democratic presidential nominee have already been plied with campaign contributions by Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, a new study shows.

"While it would be unseemly for the candidates to hand out thousands of dollars to primary voters, or to the delegates pledged to represent the will of those voters, elected officials serving as superdelegates have received about $890,000 from Obama and Clinton in the form of campaign contributions over the last three years," the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics reported today.

About half the 800 superdelegates -- elected officials, party leaders, and others -- have committed to either Clinton or Obama, though they can change their minds until the convention.

Obama's political action committee has doled out more than $694,000 to superdelegates since 2005, the study found, and of the 81 who had announced their support for Obama, 34 had received donations totaling $228,000.

Clinton's political action committee has distributed about $195,000 to superdelegates, and only 13 of the 109 who had announced for her have received money, totaling about $95,000.

I bet we hear a lot more about this.

Gay Man Is Youngest Superdelegate

Jason Rae, 21, is the nation's youngest superdelegate. He's also openly gay and a former Victory Fund intern. The Victory Fund works to elect openly LGBT candidates in all levels of government.

A junior at Marquette University, he has been courted by both Democratic candidates, including a breakfast with Chelsea Clinton and phone calls from both her parents. Obama’s camp has also been calling.

“They haven’t been pressing me in any sense,” he told CBS News. “They’ve just been talking to me like an average voter. The same thing that happens when candidates go to Iowa and New Hampshire and court votes there. It’s the same thing with superdelegates.”

Victory Fund vice president Denis Dison said Jason’s newfound celebrity (he’s already appeared on national television multiple times in the past 24 hours) helps draw attention to the power of electoral politics: “Jason’s work for the Victory Fund, and now his star turn as superdelegate, shows the gay community has a lot to offer in terms of political leadership. Who’d have thought a 21 year-old gay man would be at the center of the fight for the Democratic nomination?”

Who would have thought it, indeed.