Glen Bolger, 1962-2026
A legendary pollster and friend of the family has passed at 63.
I learned yesterday via Facebook that Glen Bolger, a founding partner of Public Opinion Strategies and friend of the family, passed away after a nine-month battle with glioblastoma. He was only 63.
His wife, Carol, has a lovely tribute on the CaringBridge she curated, at his request, documenting that fight.
His POS partners posted this:
Glen was one of the three founding partners of the firm, a leader, a creative visionary, a husband, father, brother, mentor, a cornerstone of our organization, and cherished friend to all. Glen’s loss will be felt throughout the political and public affairs communities, not just here in the United States, but in international communities as well.
Glen was already a leading Republican pollster when he co-founded the firm with Neil Newhouse and Bill McInturff in 1991. My late first wife, Kimberly, worked there from 1994 until her own untimely passing in 2011, working her way up from an entry-level position to Chief Operating Officer.
POS is unquestionably the most prominent public opinion research firm on the Republican side of the aisle, and the work climate is intense, especially during campaign season. But Glen and his fellow founders also managed to create something of a family atmosphere. Quite a number of junior staffers I met twenty years ago are still there, having risen to partnership.
Glen and company were incredibly kind and generous in the weeks after Kim’s passing. As I noted in a post reflecting on the tenth anniversary of that event, we’ve largely lost touch.
We remain on good terms. But Kim was the basis of that relationship, and it would have been odd for me to show up at the office and weird to invite me to company social events, turning a celebration of their hard work into a reminder of her passing.
Regardless, I’ll never forget what they did for the girls and me.
While I haven’t seen him in person in years, I was able to follow Glen’s adventures on Facebook. He loved to travel and was an excellent amateur photographer and enthusiastic travel blogger.
And, thankfully, he lived to see his induction, along with Neil and Bill, into the American Association of Political Consultants Hall of Fame in April.
My condolences to his family, partners, and friends. He will be deeply missed.
My deepest condolences.