Charlie Tisdale, a pillar of the Bridgeport community who ran an anti-poverty agency and also ran for public office, has died.

Tisdale was the longtime executive director of the anti-poverty agency ABCD, which serves 35,000 people across western Connecticut. Tisdale also ran for Congress and almost became the first black mayor of Bridgeport in the 1980s.

"Charlie Tisdale was bigger than life. He leaves a lasting legacy as a civil rights warrior, as a ferocious advocate for justice," says Sen. Richard Blumenthal.

"Our sympathies and condolences go out to the family, and we remember and have benefited from his leadership as a trailblazer, a community leader," Bridgeport Mayor Joe Ganim says.

Tisdale's family says they're still in the process of making funeral arrangements.