Obama Campaign Staffer, 29, Dies After Collapsing at Headquarters

A 29-year-old staffer working for President Barack Obama’s re-election died today after collapsing at the campaign’s Chicago headquarters, according to a campaign official.

Alex Okrent had worked for Obama since 2004, according to the official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity. During a campaign tour through Virginia today, Obama called Okrent’s family and later consoled other campaign staffers on a conference call, the official said.

The Chicago Sun-Times earlier reported that Okrent had collapsed at the campaign’s headquarters and was taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital. He was pronounced dead at the hospital, the paper said.

Okrent was a native of Evanston, Illinois, and graduated from Wesleyan University in Connecticut, the newspaper said.