Udall 'stunned' to hear of Tubbs Jones' death

Stephanie Tubbs JonesU.S. Rep. Mark Udall (D-Eldorado Springs) was shocked to hear of U.S. Rep. Stephanie Tubbs Jones' death Wednesday after the Ohio Congresswoman suffered a brain hemorrhage caused by an aneurysm.

"You ruined my day," a visibly hurt Udall said to PolitickerCO.com after a Wednesday afternoon rally in Fort Collins with 4th Congressional District Democratic nominee Betsy Markey. "I thought you were going to say she was the vice-presidential nominee."

Udall said there had been talks about Tubbs Jones coming to Udall's Democratic National Convention event in Denver on Sunday.

"She was a Democrat through and through," Udall remembered of his U.S. House colleague. "She didn't take any grief from anybody -- she had been a prosecutor, so she's stood her ground."

 "She was one of a kind - she's still with me, she's one of a kind. (She was) inclusive, energetic, just a humongous personality," Udall said. "She was always a very good friend to me."

"I'm stunned," he said.

Tubbs Jones, an outspoken critic of the Iraq War, was the first black woman elected to Congress from Ohio. She was 58.

MORE on PolitickerOH.com:

• Tubbs Jones has died, say family, doctors
• National, state leaders mourn U.S. Rep. Tubbs Jones