A veteran political adviser and CNN political commentator Alice Stewart, who worked on several GOP presidential campaigns, has passed away at the age of 58 via CNN.
It has been noted that the law enforcement officials informed the outlet that Stewart’s body was found outdoors in the Belle View neighborhood in northern Virginia early Saturday morning. No foul play is suspected, and officers believe a medical emergency occurred.
“Alice was a very dear friend and colleague to all of us at CNN,” Mark Thompson, the network’s CEO, said in an email to staff Saturday.
“A political veteran and an Emmy Award-winning journalist who brought an incomparable spark to CNN’s coverage, known across our bureaus not only for her political savvy, but for her unwavering kindness. Our hearts are heavy as we mourn such an extraordinary loss.”
Stewart had started her career as a local reporter and producer in Georgia before moving to Little Rock, Arkansas, to be a news anchor, she told Harvard International Review. She had served as the communications director in then-Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee’s office before assuming a similar role for his presidential run in 2008.
Stewart also served as the communications director for the 2012 Republican presidential bids of former Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann and then former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum, also a former CNN commentator. Most recently, Stewart was the communications director for Texas Sen. Ted Cruz’s 2016 GOP presidential campaign.
“Alice was wonderful and talented and a dear friend,” Cruz said in a post on X. “She lived every day to the fullest, and she will be deeply missed.”
Stewart joined CNN as a political commentator ahead of the 2016 election, and she made on-air appearances frequently to provide insight on the political news of the day, including as recently as Friday on “The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer.”
“We always invited her to come on my show because we knew we would be a little bit smarter at the end of that conversation,” Blitzer told Jessica Dean on “CNN Newsroom.” “She helped our viewers better appreciate what was going on and that’s why we will miss her so much.”
