Alice Stewart, a veteran political adviser and CNN political commentator known for her work on several GOP presidential campaigns, has passed away at the age of 58.
Authorities informed CNN that Stewart’s body was discovered early Saturday morning in the Belle View neighborhood of northern Virginia. No foul play is suspected, and officials believe she experienced a medical emergency.
“Alice was a very dear friend and colleague to all of us at CNN,” said Mark Thompson, the network’s CEO, in an email to staff on Saturday. “A political veteran and an Emmy Award-winning journalist, she brought an incomparable spark to CNN’s coverage. Known across our bureaus for her political savvy and unwavering kindness, our hearts are heavy as we mourn such an extraordinary loss.”
Born on March 11, 1966, in Atlanta, Stewart began her career as a local reporter and producer in Georgia. She later moved to Little Rock, Arkansas, to work as a news anchor. In an interview with Harvard International Review, she shared her journey, which included serving as communications director for then-Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee. She continued in this role during Huckabee’s 2008 presidential campaign.
Stewart also held the position of communications director for the 2012 presidential campaigns of former Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann and former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum, who was also a former CNN commentator. Most recently, she served as 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.”
CNN hired Stewart as a political commentator ahead of the 2016 election, and she became a regular on-air presence, providing insights on political news, including her recent appearance on Friday's "The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer."
“We always invited her on my show because we knew we would be a little bit smarter by the end of the 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.”
CNN anchor and chief political correspondent Dana Bash, who had known Stewart for nearly two decades since her time with the Huckabee campaign, remembered her on Saturday as “someone who told it straight.”
“One of the many reasons why she was so valuable to us on our political panels was because she brought that experience,” Bash said. “She understood how Republican politics and campaigns worked and she always conveyed her insights with a smile.”
In a 2020 interview with Harvard Political Review, Stewart reflected on her role as a commentator at CNN, saying she brought “a perspective that I think CNN appreciates.”
“My position at CNN is to be a conservative voice yet an independent thinker,” Stewart explained. “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).”
Former Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson remembered Stewart on Saturday as “someone who believed that politics was about making friends, not creating enemies.”
Hutchinson shared with CNN that Stewart “was one of the first to call and encourage me” after he suspended his presidential campaign earlier this year. They had spoken just last week “about the mess we see in our politics today.”
“She was trying to change that, and we’ll miss her,” Hutchinson added.
Stewart was also a co-host of the podcast “Hot Mics From Left to Right” with fellow CNN commentator Maria Cardona.
“I just can’t believe that she’s gone,” Cardona said on “CNN Newsroom,” noting that they were scheduled to record an episode of their podcast on Saturday. “I want everyone to know what a special person she was, especially in this industry. 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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