Dotty Lynch (July 24, 1945 – August 10, 2014) was an academic, journalist and political pollster, best known for being the first woman to be chief polltaker for a presidential campaign when she worked for

Gary Hart Gary Warren Hart (''né'' Hartpence; born November 28, 1936) is an American politician, diplomat, and lawyer. He was the front-runner for the 1988 Democratic presidential nomination until he dropped out amid revelations of extramarital affairs. ...

. She also served as political advisor to

George McGovern George Stanley McGovern (July 19, 1922 – October 21, 2012) was an American historian and South Dakota politician who was a U.S. representative and three-term U.S. senator, and the Democratic Party presidential nominee in the 1972 pres ...

and

Jimmy Carter James Earl Carter Jr. (born October 1, 1924) is an American politician who served as the 39th president of the United States from 1977 to 1981. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he previously served as th ...

. She was the

CBS News CBS News is the news division of the American television and radio service CBS. CBS News television programs include the ''CBS Evening News'', ''CBS Mornings'', news magazine programs '' CBS News Sunday Morning'', '' 60 Minutes'', and '' 48 H ...

senior political editor from 1985 to 2005 and was a member of the CBS News/New York Times polling consortium. In 2006, she joined

American University The American University (AU or American) is a private federally chartered research university in Washington, D.C. Its main campus spans 90 acres (36 ha) on Ward Circle, mostly in the Spring Valley neighborhood of Northwest D.C. AU was charte ...

's School of Communication as executive in residence, and became director of the SOC/SPA joint MA program in Political Communication.

Career

Lynch began her career in 1968 when she worked as a researcher for the Election Unit at NBC. In 1972, she joined Cambridge Survey Research, becoming a vice president in 1976.

Death

Lynch died August 10, 2014, from complications of

melanoma Melanoma, also redundantly known as malignant melanoma, is a type of skin cancer that develops from the pigment-producing cells known as melanocytes. Melanomas typically occur in the skin, but may rarely occur in the mouth, intestines, or eye ( ...

. She is survived by her husband R. Morgan Downey and stepson Robert.

References

External links

* American University faculty profile - * Videos ** CBS Face the Nation
Remembering political trailblazer, CBS veteran Dotty Lynch
August 17, 2014 ** CBS Evening News, * Pollsters American political consultants American University faculty and staff CBS News people 1945 births 2014 deaths Fordham Graduate School of Social Service alumni Marymount Manhattan College alumni People from Brooklyn American journalism academics American women journalists Journalists from New York City American women academics 21st-century American women {{US-journalist-1940s-stub