Alice Stewart obit

Alice Stewart, CNN Political Commentator, Dies at 58

She also worked as a political adviser on several GOP campaigns. 

She was not on the list.

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

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

CNN reported that network CEO Mark Thompson wrote in an email to staff Saturday, “Alice was a very dear friend and colleague to all of us at CNN. 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.”

Born on March 11, 1966, in Atlanta, Georgia, Stewart started her career as a local news reporter and producer. She eventually moved to Little Rock, Arkansas, to pursue being a news anchor, she told Harvard International Review in 2020.

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

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

Stewart later joined CNN as a political commentator ahead of the 2016 election, where she frequently appeared on air. She was also a co-host of the podcast Hot Mics From Left to Right, with fellow CNN commentator Maria Cardona.

When speaking about her role as a commentator for the network, she previously told Harvard Political Review in 2020 that she brings “a perspective that I think CNN appreciates.”

“My position at CNN is to be a conservative voice yet an independent thinker,” Stewart continued at the time. “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).”

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