Scott William Rasmussen (born March 30, 1956) is an American public opinion pollster and political analyst. He previously produced the ScottRasmussen.com Daily Tracking Poll, a gauge of American voters' political sentiment. He is editor-at-large for Ballotpedia, where he writes the Number of the Day Feature, and is a host for the podcast entitled "Just the Polls," a podcast series from Just the News.
Rasmussen was the founder of Rasmussen Reports, where he served as pollster and president for 10 years until leaving the company in 2013. Earlier in his professional life, Rasmussen co-founded the sports network ESPN. After leaving Rasmussen Reports, Rasmussen founded Rasmussen Media Group, working as a political analyst, author, public speaker and columnist.
Rasmussen is a New York Times bestselling author and speaker, and he writes a weekly column for the Deseret News. His most recent book publication is entitled The Sun is Still Rising: Politics Has Failed But America Will Not and was released in 2018.
Early life and education
Rasmussen was born on Eglin Air Force Base near Valparaiso, Florida to Lois Ann and Bill Rasmussen. Scott's father was from Chicago, Illinois and attended DePauw University in Indiana, where he met Scott's mother.
From an early age, Rasmussen was exposed to the broadcasting business through his father, who had worked for radio stations and was a communications director for the New England Whalers ice hockey team. With the help of his father, Rasmussen taped his first radio commercial at the age of seven.
Rasmussen grew up spending summers in Ocean Grove, New Jersey with his grandparents. He got his first job at age 14 as an umbrella boy. He later served as an announcer for the New England Whalers of the World Hockey Association. Rasmussen's childhood idol was hockey legend Gordie Howe. Around that time he was emcee for Howe's 50th birthday celebration in 1978, which Rasmussen cites as a highlight of his life: "nothing in my professional career will ever equal the thrill of celebrating [his] birthday."
Rasmussen graduated from Minnechaug Regional High School in 1974 and was goaltender for the high school hockey team. He started college at the University of Connecticut, taking a class from professor Everett Ladd, a pollster and political scientist.
Rasmussen earned a bachelor's degree in history at his father's alma mater, DePauw University in Greencastle, Indiana, graduating in 1986, and later an executive MBA from the Babcock Graduate School of Management at Wake Forest University.
Career
ESPN
In 1978, Rasmussen partnered with his father, Bill, to form an exclusively sports-devoted 24-hour cable television network. The network was initially named "Entertainment and Sports Programming Network," but was changed to "ESPN" to shorten its length. Five years later, the Rasmussen's ownership stake in ESPN was bought out by Texaco, who thereafter sold ESPN to ABC for $237 million. They went on to found the Enterprise Radio Network. Rasmussen and his father later had a falling out over what Rasmussen called unspecified "differences."
Polling
Rasmussen first became known for his public opinion polling work. In the 1990s, he volunteered as a pollster for friends who were attempting to impose congressional term limits. In 1995, he founded a polling company called GrassRoots Research. In 1999, after changing the name to Rasmussen Research, the company was bought by TownPagesNet.com for about $4.5 million in ordinary shares.
Rasmussen Reports
In 2003, Rasmussen founded Rasmussen Reports, LLC, a U.S.-based public opinion polling company, to track consumer confidence, investor confidence, and presidential approval. Rasmussen Reports has been called "one of the most consistently interesting polling and analytics companies," generating a daily cycle of news reports based on original survey results as well as political, business, economic and lifestyle content. Unlike traditional pollsters whose polls are often influenced by partisanship, the company's business model relies on website advertising and paid subscriptions for premium content. Rasmussen Reports' polls are notable for their use of automated public opinion polling, involving pre-recorded telephone inquiries, which have been shown to produce accurate results at low cost.