CNN Commentator Alice Stewart Dead at 58

CNN commentator and political reporter Alice Stewart has died at 58.

CNN confirmed Stewart’s death with law enforcement on Saturday, May 18, who said Stewart was found dead inside her home in Virginia that morning. Officers believe her death was the result of a medical emergency, and no foul play is suspected. An official cause of death has yet to be determined.

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

Stewart was hired at CNN as a political commentator in 2016 ahead of the presidential election between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump. She cohosted the podcast “Hot Mics From Left to Right” with Maria Cardona, another CNN commentator. She also appeared on air as recently as Friday, May 17, for an episode of “The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer.”

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“She was really, really a special woman,” Wolf Blitzer told CNN on Saturday. “There was always something good to talk about with her. That’s why we always invited her to come on my show because we knew we would be a little bit smarter at the end of that conversation than we were at the beginning of that conversation.”

CNN anchor Jim Acosta also shared his condolences via X on Saturday. “My heart is broken over the passing of our dear colleague Alice Stewart,” he wrote. “We’ve been friends going back to the 2012 campaign. We spent so many weekends talking politics with the wonderful @MariaTCardona – they always spoke so passionately but with kindness and civility. Alice was my friend and I loved her. RIP.”

Born in Atlanta on March 11, 1966, Stewart started her career in journalism as a local reporter and producer in her home state of Georgia before she made the move to Little Rock, Arkansas for a job as a news anchor.

“I always wanted to be in news,” Stewart told the Harvard International Review in an October 2020 interview. “So, I started out as a reporter and producer in Savannah, Georgia, and then I went to work in Atlanta behind the scenes as a producer and then to Little Rock, Arkansas, where I was a news anchor and reporter. I loved, you know, learning new things. I loved covering politics. I loved courts; I loved breaking news.”

Before landing at CNN, Stewart worked as communications director for several presidential campaigns, including Sen. Ted Cruz, Gov. Mike Huckabee, Sen. Rick Santorum and Congressman Michele Bachmann. She also served as a surrogate for the Republican National Committee.

In an interview with the Harvard Political Review in December 2020, Stewart described her role at CNN as a “conservative commentator” meant to “provide my perspective on the politics of the day from my conservative viewpoint.”

“My position at CNN is to be a conservative voice yet an independent thinker,” she said 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].”