Alice Stewart, a Republican strategist and political commentator on CNN, has died. He is 58.
His death was announced by CNN. The company said the police found the body of Ms. Stewart out in Northern Virginia on Saturday morning. Authorities believe he had a medical emergency.
Mark Thompson, CNN’s chief executive, described him in an email to staff members as “a political veteran and an Emmy Award-winning journalist who brought unparalleled sparkle to CNN’s coverage” and who is known not only “for his knowledge of politics, but for his unwavering kindness,” CNN reported.
Ms. Stewart has appeared on the cable news outlet as a conservative commentator since the 2016 presidential race. Before that, Ms. Stewart has worked on several Republican presidential campaigns.
He was the communications director for the 2008 presidential campaign of Mike Huckabee, the former governor of Arkansas, and went on to serve in similar roles for Republican candidates in the two subsequent elections, including Michele Bachmann, Rick Santorum and Ted Cruz, according to his LinkedIn profile.
Ms. Stewart served as deputy secretary of state in Arkansas, according to the Harvard Kennedy School Institute of Politicswhere he became a fellow in 2020. He has also done work for the Republican Party and conservative organizations.
On CNN, Ms. Stewart cast himself as a staunch advocate of conservatism as the Republican Party reshaped itself under the leadership of former President Donald J. Trump.
“I don’t think everything he does is great, and I don’t think everything he does is bad,” Ms. Stewart about Mr. Trump on a 2020 interview with the Harvard Political Review. “My position at CNN is to be a conservative voice but a free thinker.”
In an opinion piece published on CNN last year, Ms. Stewart urged Republican voters to reconsider their unconditional support for Mr. Trump’s 2024 election bid because of the various criminal charges he faces.
“This is a campaign about self-preservation, not selfless public service,” Ms. wrote Stewart. “I’m not convinced how you can Make America Great.”
Ms. Stewart had experience presenting ideas on live television before joining CNN.
Before moving into politics in 2005 with a job as a press secretary in Mr. Huckabee’s administrationMs. Stewart was a news anchor and reporter for seven years at an NBC television affiliate in Little Rock, Ark., according to LinkedIn.
“I liked covering politics. I liked the courts. I loved breaking news,” said Ms. Stewart in a 2020 interview with Harvard International Review. “But, a few years ago, I realized that maybe there was something else I should be doing.”
Ms. Stewart was born on March 11, 1966, in Atlanta, according to CNN. He earned a degree in broadcast news and political science from the University of Georgia, according to the Harvard International Review.
Ms. came out last. Stewart on CNN on Friday on “The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer,” CNN said.
A list of survivors was not immediately available.
