The CNN political commentator was 58

Alice Stewart

James Leynse/Corbis via Getty Images

Alice Stewart, a CNN political commentator who worked on several GOP presidential campaigns, has died. She was 58.

Stewart’s body was found early Saturday morning outside in the Bellevue neighborhood of northern Virginia, law enforcement officials said CNN. Officials said no foul play is suspected and they believe a medical emergency occurred. Her cause of death was not immediately known.

CNN reported that network CEO Mark Thompson wrote in an email to employees on Saturday: “Alice was a very dear friend and colleague to all of us at CNN. A political veteran and Emmy Award-winning journalist who has brought an unparalleled spark to CNN’s reporting and is known in our offices not only for her political savvy but also for her unwavering kindness. Our hearts are heavy as we mourn this extraordinary loss.”

Stewart was born on March 11, 1966 in Atlanta, Georgia and began her career as a local news reporter and producer. She eventually moved to Little Rock, Arkansas, to work as a news anchor, she said Harvard International Review in 2020.

Stewart later served as communications director in then-Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee’s office and then worked in a similar role during his 2008 presidential run.

In subsequent years, she served as communications director for several other GOP campaigns, including for former Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann, former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum and Texas Sen. Ted Cruz.

Stewart later joined CNN as a political commentator before the 2016 election, where she was a frequent on-air guest. She also co-hosted the podcast Hot mics from left to rightwith CNN commentator Maria Cardona.

Speaking about her role as a commentator for the network, she previously shared Harvard Political Review in 2020 that she “brings a perspective that I think CNN values.”

“My position at CNN is to be a conservative voice and yet an independent thinker,” Stewart continued at the time. “I’m not a Kool-Aid drinker; I’m not a Trump-never, and I didn’t check my common sense and decency at the door when I voted for (Trump).”

Her last appearance on the network was Friday The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer.