Alice Stewart, a CNN political commentator who also worked on various Republican presidential campaigns, has died at 58, according to the network.
Her body was discovered outdoors in Alexandria, Virginia, on Saturday, according to law enforcement officials, who believe a medical emergency occurred.
Stewart began working in political communications in Little Rock, Arkansas, for then-Gov. Mike Huckabee, who also hired her to work on his 2008 bid for the White House.
In 2012, Stewart was the communications director for two different Republican candidates: former Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann and then former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum, one of Stewart’s future CNN colleagues.
The last campaign she worked on was Sen. Ted Cruz’s (R-TX) in 2016, the same year CNN hired her.
“My position at CNN is to be a conservative voice yet an independent thinker,” Stewart told the Harvard Political Review in 2020. “I’m not a Kool-Aid drinker; I’m not a never-Trumper, and I didn’t check my common sense and decency at the door when I voted for (Trump).”
News of Stewart’s death gave way to an outpour of emotional messages, including on social media and on CNN’s airwaves.
“Heartbreaking,” Cruz wrote in a post on X. “Alice was wonderful and talented and a dear friend. And she loved America fiercely. She lived every day to the fullest, and she will be deeply missed. May God’s comfort and peace be upon her loved ones. RIP.”
CNN anchor Jim Acosta said he was “really heartbroken over this” in a nearly three-minute segment on the network.
CNN political commentator Maria Cardona, who co-hosted the Hot Mics From Left to Right podcast with Stewart, called her a “sister” to her.
“I want everyone to know what a special person she was, especially in this industry,” Cardona said. “As you know, today’s politics can be indecent and so dirty, and Alice was just such a loving, shining light.”
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In an email to employees on Saturday, CNN CEO Mark Thompson called Stewart “a very dear friend and colleague to all of us” and highlighted her credentials and talents.
“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,” Thompson said. “Our hearts are heavy as we mourn such an extraordinary loss.”
