A well-respected journalist and authority on the political viewpoints of women, Dotty Lynch worked at CBS News for 20 years as a political editor providing polling information and analysis to anchors and correspondents such as Mike Wallace, Bob Schieffer, Diane Sawyer and Lesley Stahl.

Born Dorothea Jean Lynch in Brooklyn, New York, in 1945, Lynch also advised on campaigns for Jimmy Carter, Edward M. Kennedy and Walter Mondale, among others. But it was her coverage of presidential campaigns, political conventions, elections and debates which made her an expert in her field.

In the span of her career Lynch worked as a campaign researcher for NBC News, pitched stories to Dan Rather at CBS News, authored CBS’s “Political Points” column and helped lead the CBS/New York Times poll. She is also credited with creating the “gender gap” concept in voting patterns and then devising the first national political campaign with its own “women’s strategy.” While working as a polling advisor, she capitalized on her strategy for Senator Gary Hart’s presidential campaign by encouraging him to prominently feature women in his television commercials.

Lynch died August 10, 2014, in Washington, D.C. She was 69.