Democratic Political Director Paul Tully Found Dead at Hotel

Paul Tully, political director of the Democratic National Committee, was found dead Thursday in his hotel room, authorities said. He was 48.

Pulaski County Coroner Steve Nawojczyk said Tully appeared to have died of natural causes, probably heart attack or stroke.

Tully, who had been directing state-by-state targeting for the Clinton campaign, was apparently stricken while getting ready for bed Wednesday night, Nawojczyk said.

His body was found by a maid in his hotel room late Thursday afternoon, the coroner said.

“Everybody here is still in a state of shock,” said Betsey Wright, research director for Bill Clinton’s campaign.

In a statement, Clinton called Tully “a dear friend and trusted adviser. Paul had one of the nation’s greatest political minds and one of its biggest hearts.”

Tully was a beefy, intense, chain-smoking political operative who moved in and out of top Democratic campaigns for more than a decade. He worked on the presidential campaigns of Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.) in 1980, Walter F. Mondale in 1984, Gary Hart and later Michael Dukakis in 1988, after Hart’s effort collapsed.

Tully moved to the Democratic National Committee after Ronald H. Brown became chairman in 1989.