CNN’s Alice Stewart – former Huckabee aide and KARK journalist – dead at 58 | The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette

Alice Stewart, a CNN political commentator and veteran political consultant who worked at a Little Rock television station before working for former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee and participating in several Republican presidential campaigns, has died at age 58, the news station reported on Saturday.

Police in Northern Virginia told CNN that Stewart’s body was found outdoors in the Bellevue neighborhood early Saturday and no foul play was suspected. According to CNN, officials believe she suffered a medical event.

In an email to employees, the network’s CEO Mark Thompson called Stewart “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,” Thompson wrote. “Our hearts are heavy as we mourn such an extraordinary loss.”

Further information on the cause of death and the survivors was not available on Saturday.

Born March 11, 1966, in Atlanta, Stewart began her career as a local reporter in Georgia before moving to Little Rock to work as a news anchor. She then served as communications director in Huckabee’s office.

The news of Stewart’s death came as a shock to Huckabee and his family, he said in a written statement Saturday.

“The news of her death has been deeply sobering for me personally and for my family,” he said.

Huckabee hired Stewart as his communications director while he was governor, and she continued to work on his unsuccessful 2008 presidential bid, where she was one of his first hires, he said.

According to her LinkedIn profile, Stewart worked as an anchor and reporter for Little Rock NBC affiliate KARK 4 from 1998 to 2005. That’s where Huckabee met her, he said.

“She was an avid runner and marathoner and encouraged me during my training for the 2005 Little Rock Marathon,” Huckabee said. “She wrote an ongoing post about training and my marathon running, the first of several for me.”

After Huckabee’s first run for president, Stewart worked on the presidential campaigns of Republican Michelle Bachmann of Minnesota and Republican Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania before returning to Little Rock to work as a talk show host at KHTE 96.5 FM, according to her LinkedIn resume .

She returned to the presidential campaign in 2015 when she joined Huckabee’s second presidential bid, her online work history shows. After that bid failed, she joined Texas Republican Ted Cruz’s unsuccessful presidential bid in 2016.

“Heartbreaking,” Cruz wrote Saturday on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter. “Alice was wonderful and talented and a dear friend. And she loved America more than anything. She lived every day to the fullest and we will miss her dearly. May God’s comfort and peace be with your loved ones. REST IN PEACE.”

Stewart joined CNN as a political commentator before the 2016 election and frequently appeared on air to provide insight into the day’s political news. Her last appearance was Friday on “The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer.”

Stewart told the 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 said. “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).”

Former Arkansas governor and presidential candidate Asa Hutchinson posted on X that Stewart’s “sudden death is a great loss to everyone who valued her friendship and political passion.”

“I first met Alice in Arkansas and am proud of her focus on making friends and not making enemies in politics,” he wrote. “Thank you, Alice Stewart!”

Stewart also co-hosted the podcast “Hot Mics from Left to Right” with CNN commentator Maria Cardona and was a member of the Senior Advisory Committee at the Institute of Politics at the Kennedy School at Harvard University, where she was previously a fellow.

In her free time, Stewart was an avid runner, according to CNN. She frequently posted photos from races on social media, including the TCS New York City Marathon, which she ran in November, and the Credit Union Cherry Blossom 10 Mile race, which she ran last month.

Information for this report was provided by Grant Lancaster of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.

Alice Stewart (right) poses with (from left) Denver Peacock, CEO of Big Brothers Big Sisters of Central Arkansas Toast and Roast and then-Gov. Asa Hutchinson at the event in Little Rock in this Aug. 13, 2015 file photo. (Arkansas Democrat-Gazette/Cary Jenkins)

Alice Stewart, then a journalist at KARK-TV in Little Rock, is seen in this May 2004 file photo for her High Profile cover story. (Arkansas Democrat-Gazette file photo)