Conservative blogger Andrew Breitbart dead at 43

Controversial conservative blogger Andrew Breitbart passed away early Thursday, his spokesman confirmed.

Breitbart, 43, died just after midnight in Califoia, according to the Los Angeles County Coroner’s Office.

A star of the right-wing blogosphere, he was famous for his aggressive attacks on the mainstream media and liberal politicians — and is credited for helping take down former Rep. Anthony Weiner.

The cause of his death was not immediately known, though word of his passing rocked the conservative world — all the way to the White House campaign trail.

"I'm crestfallen — that's horrible, Rick Santorum said to reporters just after a rally in Georgia.

"What a huge loss, in my opinion, for our country and certainly for the conservative movement, Santorum said. ”My prayers go out to his family."

Mitt Romney also issued his condolences.

”Ann and I are deeply saddened by the passing of Andrew Breitbart: brilliant entrepreneur, fearless conservative, loving husband and father, the GOP hopeful said via Twitter.

Breitbart worked at the Drudge Report in the 1990s before launching several of his own sites, including BigJoualism.com, BigGovement.com and BigHollywood.com.

He had a column for the conservative Washington Times and was a frequent speaker at Tea Party events.

He gained the most notoriety — or acclaim, depending on an observer’s political views — for breaking the Weiner sexting scandal last June.

Breitbart’s sites first published the Congressman’s lewd photos, and the pundit himself later hijacked Weiner’s resignation press conference to mock the disgraced lawmaker.

He also posted a pair of videos that allegedly showed Shirley Sherrod, a Department of Agriculture employee, making racist remarks at a NAACP dinner.

Sherrod was fired — but a further investigation revealed that Breitbart had taken the clips out of context. Sherrod later filed suit against the provocative blogger.

Though beloved by the right, Breitbart was also demonized by the left — and often appeared to go too far in the name of partisan politics.

When Sen. Ted Kennedy died in 2009, Breitbart unleashed a torrent of hate on Twitter, calling the liberal lion a ”villain, a ”duplicitous bastard and ”a special pile of human excrement.

Breitbart also warred with what he viewed as the liberal-run media, and in particular saved his venom for Current TV host Keith Olbermann.

Breitbart’s death was first reported on the websites he owned and later confirmed by other outlets. He leaves behind a wife and four children.