BREAKING: NYT political columnist Blake Hounshell dead at 44 after apparent suicide

Staff at the paper was informed Tuesday via an email obtained by The New York Post, written by editor-in-chief Joe Kahn and managing editor Carolyn Ryan that stated Hounshell “tragically passed away” from an apparent suicide.

They described Hounshell, who joined the outlet in 2021, as “…a dedicated journalist who quickly distinguished himself as our lead politics newsletter writer. He became an indispensable and always insightful voice in the report during a busy election cycle.”

“We’ve lost a valuable colleague and this is a heartbreaking loss to our team.”

A statement from Hounshell’s family shared by The New York Times read: “It was with great sorrow that we have to inform you that Blake has suddenly died this morning after a long and courageous battle with depression. His wife, Sandy, and two children are in our thoughts and prayers, and ask for respect and privacy at this time.”

Hounshell, who was originally from Pittsburgh, was a self-proclaimed “politics junkie,” according to a statement The Times wrote when they hired him. The 2002 Yale graduate began his career in journalism after studying Arabic in Cairo, Egypt, and was a finalist for a Livingston Award in 2011 for his reporting on the Arab Spring uprisings.

The columnist authored the newspaper’s “On Politics” newsletter and his most recent column titled: “Death Penalty in California is a Puzzle for Newsom,” was published on Monday on the paper’s website.

Hounshell joined The Times after working for 8 years at Politico where he was the managing editor for Washington and politics.

Before working for Politico, Hounshell was the managing editor of Foreign Policy magazine.