After earning her J.D. in 1983, Fudge clerked for the Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas. She then worked in the county auditor's office for six years; she eventually served as the county's budget director. In 1991, Tubbs-Jones, who had become county prosecutor, hired Fudge as finance director for an office with a $15 million budget.

In 1996, Fudge was elected national president of Delta Sigma Theta Inc., the country's largest public-service sorority for African-Americans. She had long already held leadership positions within the organization; she had presided over her local chapter, sat on the finance committee since 1979 and served as national treasurer.

In 1998, Tubbs-Jones was elected to the U.S. House and she hired Fudge as her chief of staff; the two roomed together in Washington. Yet, Fudge soon returned to Ohio as she decided to seek elected office herself.

In 1999, she ran for Mayor of Warrensville Heights, a predominantly African-American Cleveland suburb. Fudge almost captured a majority of the vote in a crowded first round before trouncing the incumbent mayor by a three-to-one margin in a runoff.

Fudge thus became the city's first elected black mayor. "There were a lot of people who were afraid because they felt an African-American couldn't run the city as well as a white mayor," she said.

2008 House Election

In August 2008, Tubbs-Jones died of a ruptured aneurysm. Since she had already won the Democratic nomination in her reelection race, her replacement on the November ballot was selected by the Democratic Party's Cuyahoga County Executive Committee. While many public figures announced their candidacy, Fudge positioned herself as the most capable of her pursuing her late friend's legacy. "I can finish some of the things she didn't have the opportunity to finish," Fudge explained.

The procedure to select a new nominee got more complex when Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson and ex-Rep. Lou Stokes (D-Ohio) announced they would form a committee to vet the candidate and issue a recommendation. While this self-appointed panel was criticized for holding secret meetings and initially refusing to disclose the list of its members, Jackson and Stokes' stature allowed them to compete their project and they eventually decided to endorse Fudge. Fudge gained another crucial group of supporters when Cleveland's Democratic ward leaders voted to back her candidacy.

On Sept. 11, 2008, Fudge won a large majority at the executive committee's meeting, gathering 175 votes compared to former state Senate minority leader C.J. Prentiss' 64 and Rev. Marvin McMickle's 30. This was enough to place Fudge's name on November's general election ballot, which assured her victory beause of the district's overwhelmingly Democratic nature. Yet, Fudge faced her first electoral test on October 14th: A special election had been called to select a replacement for the final months of Tubbs- Jones' term, and Fudge faced competition from former state Sen. Jeffrey Johnson. She easily prevailed, 67 to 13 percent.

Ohio Politics

Fudge, who had long already become a leading figure among the Cleveland region's African-American community, remained closely involved in Ohio politics even after her election to Congress.

Specifically, Fudge played a central role in heated debates around Cuyahoga County government reform in 2009.

When a coalition of local interests led by prosecutor Bill Mason launched an effort to restructure the government of Ohio's largest county, Fudge was credited with helping the group get organized and with facilitating its contacts with Cleveland's African-American politicians.

Yet, she ended up distancing herself from the coalition as the specifics of the reform plan became public. Amid worries that the plan would help Republicans gain a footing in Cuyahoga County and criticism that the reform process had wasn't inclusive, Fudge rallied local Democrats in opposition but voters massively approved the reform in a November 2009 referendum.

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