Frank Luntz was born February 23, 1962 in West Hartford, CT to Phyllys and Lester Luntz, who together wrote the first American forensic dentistry textbook. He earned his B.A. in history and political science from the University of Pennsylvania and earned a PhD in politics from Oxford University (at the age of 25), where he was a contemporary of future British Prime Minister Boris Johnson. His doctoral these formed the basis of his first book, “Candidates, Consultants, and Campaigns: The Style and Substance of American Electioneering,” which was published in 1988.
He began his career an adjunct professor at the University of Pennsylvania in 1989, and in 1992, became Pat Buchanan’s pollster during the US Republican presidential primary. Later that year, he served as Ross Perot’s pollster in the general election. He has also been a pollster to the likes of the RNC and other Republican candidates and politicians over the course of his career.
Frank is one of the best-known political commentators around and has appeared as a consultant or panel member on virtually every talk show in the US including The Colbert Report, Capital Gang, GMA, Hannity, Hardball with Chris Matthews, MTP, PBS NewsHour, Nightline, The O’Reilly Factor, Real Time with Bill Maher, and The Today Show. He is known as “America’s Top Political Wordsmith” and his focus groups have become so influential that then-presidential candidate Barack Obama had this to say following the PBS presidential debate: "When Frank Luntz invites you to talk to his focus group, you talk to his focus group."
Additionally, he has also provided analysis for British news programs such as Newsnight and has worked in every British General Election from 1997 through 2015. Most recently, his polling on Brexit – just days before the vote – was the most accurate of any published poll. He has written numerous New York Times Best Sellers and in 2012, finished in the top 100 in Time Magazine’s global poll of the "most influential people in the world," and is a previous winner of The Washington Post’s coveted “Crystal Ball” award for being the most accurate pundit.
