Dotty Lynch was the first woman to be the lead pollster on a presidential campaign, guiding the early message and strategy for the underdog candidacy of Gary Hart in 1984.  As a role model, active mentor, and teacher, Dotty paved the way for women to rise to the top levels of political consulting and especially polling.

Lynch started her polling career at Cambridge Survey Research in 1972, where she rose to vice-president of the polling firm.  At Cambridge, she worked on the presidential campaigns of George McGovern and Jimmy Carter and on gubernatorial and congressional campaigns around the country. In 1979, she served as pollster for Senator Ted Kennedy.

She started her own firm, Lynch Research, in 1983. In addition to consulting with campaigns, she served as National Polling Director for the Democratic National Committee.

Dotty Lynch was one of the first to recognize the gender gap as a key factor in political campaigns after extensive analysis of voting patterns and polling in campaigns of the early 1980s, highlighting the difference in values and policy views held by women voters.

In 1984, Dotty Lynch crafted one of the first overt strategies focused on appealing to women through an integrated campaign of storytelling and visuals, for the Gary Hart presidential campaign.  After leaving the Hart campaign, she was an advocate for the selection of a woman Vice Presidential candidate, and joined the Mondale-Ferraro campaign in the fall.

In 1985, she became Co-Director of the CBS News Election and Survey Unit, managing a team of researchers, a post she held for 20 years.  In that role, Lynch covered eight presidential campaigns, 12 national conventions, 18 presidential and vice-presidential debates, and eight midterm elections.

After leaving CBS, Lynch taught at the School of Communications at American University, and was a fellow at the Kennedy School Institute of Politics at Harvard.  She remained passionate about the gender gap and women in politics, and provided hundreds of interviews and speeches to share her knowledge and insight.