Alice Stewart, CNN commentator and anchor; In addition to being a political advisor in several Republican presidential campaigns, she died early last Saturday. The communicator was only 58 years old.
As confirmed by CNN, the presenter’s lifeless body was found outside the Belle View neighborhood, in northern Virginia, where she resides. Emergency services and police officers who responded to the neighbors’ call assured the media that, even in the absence of an autopsy, her death could have been due to a medical emergency.
“Alice was a dear friend and colleague to all of us at CNN,” Mark Thompson, the network’s chief executive, said in an email to staff on Saturday. “A veteran politician and Emmy Award-winning journalist who brought an unparalleled spark to CNN’s coverage, known throughout our offices not only for her political savvy, but also for her unwavering kindness. “Our hearts are heavy as we mourn such an extraordinary loss.”
Stewart stood out as a commentator from his youth, thanks to his charisma. A native of Georgia, she began her career as a reporter and producer, later moving on to be a news anchor in Little Rock, Arkansas. There she caught the attention of then-state governor Mike Huckabee, who hired her as communications director. In 2008, she would take on the same role during his presidential bid.
Her campaign success led her to serve as campaign manager for other Republican politicians, such as former Minnesota Representative Michele Bachmann and then-former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum, in 2012; she also took over for Texas Sen. Ted Cruz’s controversial 2016 campaign.
Precisely, the senator wanted to send his condolences through X (former Twitter), from where he assured that the communicator was a “dear friend.”
The political commentator joined the news network before the 2016 election, and began to gain prominence on the network by commenting on politics on the news of the day. Since then, she became one of the most popular faces on CNN, where she also took on the role of co-host of Hot Mics From Left To Right, alongside commentator Maria Cardona.
“I can’t believe she’s gone,” Cardona said on CNN Newsroom, commenting that the two were going to record an episode of their podcast that same Saturday. “I want everyone to know how special she was, especially in this industry. Like You know, politics today can be indecent and very dirty, and Alice was a loving, shining light.”
“One of the many reasons she was so valuable to us on our political panels is because she brought that experience,” said the political journalist and Stewart’s colleague. The host of Inside Politics and co-host of State of the Union on CNN, wanted to highlight the “educational” work of the communicator in terms of her political work. “She brought that understanding of how Republican politics and Republican campaigns work and she never, ever did it with anything but a smile.”
