Election Star Jessica Campbell Dies at 38 as Costar Reese Witherspoon Mourns the Actress

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Actress Jessica Campbell, best known for her role as Tammy Metzler in the Reese Witherspoon-led 1999 comedy Election, has died. She was 38.

Campbell's cousin, Sarah Wessling, confirmed the news to TMZ, telling the outlet that Campbell died unexpectedly at her home in Portland, Oregon on Dec. 29. According to Wessling, Campbell, a naturopathic physician, worked a normal shift seeing patients at her practice and returned home to visit with her mother and aunt on the day of her death.

Once home, Campbell went to the bathroom but never came out, Wessling told TMZ, adding that the aunt eventually checked on Campbell and found her collapsed on the floor. Neither the aunt nor the EMTs who arrived shortly after were able to revive Campbell.

Campbell's family is awaiting autopsy results to determine the cause of death, according to TMZ.

A GoFundMe has been launched by Wessling to assist in Campbell's funeral costs and provide income for the late actress's 10-year-old son, Oliver. As of Wednesday, the page has raised over $24,000.

"Traveling the world, acting, becoming a doctor, being Mom to the coolest kid ever; these bucket list items wove the quotidian fabric of her reality," the page reads. "Her passion for life and the people in it was astounding."

Everett Collection Jessica Campbell in Election

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Reese Witherspoon, who starred as Tracy Flick in Election, reacted to the tragic news of her costar's death on Twitter. "So heart broken to hear this. Working with Jessica on Election was such a pleasure. I'm sending all my love to Jessica's family and loved ones," she wrote.

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According to her IMDb page, Campbell's first acting role was in the 1992 NBC TV movie In the Best Interest of Children, which starred Sarah Jessica Parker. In 1999, she played Tammy Metzler, the sister of Chris Klein's character Paul Metzler, in Election. The film was directed by Alexander Payne and also starred Witherspoon and Matthew Broderick.

Campbell's role in Election earned her a nomination for an Independent Spirit Award for Best Debut Performance.

She also starred in two episodes of the short-lived NBC series Freaks and Geeks as Amy Andrews, a tuba player in McKinley High's marching band. Additional acting credits for Campbell include the 2001 film The Safety of Object, as well as Dad's Day and Junk, both in 2002.