Arthur Finkelstein, left, pictured in 2013, worked on the campaigns of Presidents Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan. | Photo courtesy of Gary Maloney GOP campaign guru Arthur Finkelstein dies at 72

Arthur Finkelstein — the reclusive longtime Republican pollster and campaign strategist who helped elect two U.S. presidents, scores of other GOP candidates and international politicians — died Friday night, his family announced Saturday. He was 72.

Finkelstein worked on the campaigns of Presidents Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan. He became best known in New York politics as the guru behind former Sen. Al D’Amato and former Gov. George Pataki, though he worked for a number of other successful Senate candidates across the country, including former Sen. Jesse Helms (R-N.C.).


Early in his polling career, Finkelstein worked under I.A. “Bud” Lewis at NBC News. But Finkelstein, a libertarian, quickly gravitated toward Republican campaign politics, signing onto Nixon’s 1972 campaign at the age of 26.

Finkelstein would go on to work for Reagan’s unsuccessful 1976 primary campaign against then-President Gerald Ford. But a late victory in the North Carolina primary — engineered by Finkelstein and Helms’ campaign team — is credited with strengthening Reagan’s position four years later in the 1980 primaries.

Finkelstein also worked for conservatives Benjamin Netanyahu and Ariel Sharon in Israel, in addition to guiding campaigns in a number of European countries.

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He is credited with turning the word “liberal” into a political pejorative. In 1996, when D’Amato chaired the National Republican Senatorial Committee, Finkelstein guided the committee’s tactics for races around the country.

"Essentially he has dictated the message strategy for the Republican Party," Mandy Grunwald, a Democratic consultant then working for late Sen. Paul Wellstone (D-Minn.) told the Washington Post in 1996. "I don't know a Senate race in the country where the Republican message isn't charging liberal, liberal, liberal."

Despite Bill Clinton’s easy defeat of former Sen. Robert Dole (R-Kan.) in that year’s presidential race, Republicans actually picked up two Senate seats to expand their majority in the chamber.

That year, Finkelstein, who lived in Ipswich, Mass., came under criticism after he was outed as gay by Boston Magazine. New York Times columnist Frank Rich wrote that Finkelstein “sells his talents to lawmakers who would outlaw his family's very existence.”

But D’Amato stuck by Finkelstein, as did even some of his more conservative clients. Then-Sen. Lauch Faircloth (R-N.C.) replaced Finkelstein for his 1998 reelection campaign — but brought him back into the fold in the closing weeks of the race. (Faircloth lost a close race to Democrat John Edwards.)

Finkelstein, who was born in New York City, was press-shy, rarely granting on-the-record interviews to reporters. In a story for CNN in 1996, journalist Jonathan Karl called Finkelstein “the stuff of Hollywood: A man who can topple even the most powerful foes, yet so secretive that few have ever seen him.”

“He did not like press,” said Larry Weitzner, a well-known Republican consultant who is acting as a family spokesman. “His thing was that he felt like he shouldn’t be the story, the candidate should be the story.”

That made 1996, the year he was outed while guiding the GOP’s Senate campaigns, especially challenging, Weitzner said.

“He was never comfortable with the limelight,” Weitzner said. “He said it didn’t bother him, but it did. He just preferred to be a consultant who was well-loved, well-regarded by so many people in politics.”

Finkelstein is also known for his family tree — the dozens of GOP practitioners who worked under him and went on to run campaigns at the highest levels. It’s a list that includes Charlie Black, Roger Stone, Tony Fabrizio, Alex Castellano, Frank Luntz and Beth Meyers.

“There has always been a certain swagger among Arthur’s kids, as they knew and understood politics better than anyone else,” Reagan historian Craig Shirley wrote earlier this year for National Review, describing those who learned at Finkelstein’s feet. “At least they believed that.”

“He was a good boss, and he was a great mentor,” John McLaughlin, a Republican pollster who worked for Finkelstein for nearly a decade, said in a phone interview on Saturday. “He taught me how to read polls and how to change the [races] so they came out the way we wanted.”

“Arthur was an important teacher for many of us, including me,” GOP strategist Mike Murphy tweeted Saturday. “Brilliant, eccentric guy. Outside the box. Dedicated conservative.”

The cause of death was lung cancer, Finkelstein’s family announced. Finkelstein is survived by his husband, Donald — his partner of more than 50 years, they married in 2004 — their daughters, Molly and Jeni; a granddaughter and two brothers.

The family said Saturday that a private ceremony would be held soon, with plans for a public remembrance still pending.