Obama campaign staffer’s cause of death inconclusive

Friday morning, 29-year-old Obama campaign staffer Alex Okrent collapsed at the campaign headquarters in Chicago; after being rushed to nearby hospital he later died. Autopsy results released Saturday were “inconclusive” pending further tests.

The Chicago Tribune reports:

The 29-year-old Evanston native had traveled around the country and to the political heights with Obama  since volunteering for his U.S. Senate primary race in 2004, but was eyeing this fall’s presidential election as the end.

Okrent retained his devotion to progressive politics, said his father, Mike Okrent. But after years driving through battleground states and putting in long hours in the Obama campaign’s paid media division, he was ready for something less taxing.

But Alex Okrent collapsed Friday morning at Obama’s Chicago campaign headquarters in the Prudential Building at 130 E. Randolph St.

He was taken to nearby Northwestern Memorial Hospital, where he was pronounced dead. Police were not called because the incident did not appear to be suspicious, Chicago police said.

Okrent’s twitter feed, last active Thursday, shows tweets about politics, bars, and the Pitchfork Music Festival going on this weekend in Chicago, with no signs of any illness. President Obama is said to have called Okrent’s family on Friday to offer his condolences.