BOSTON -- One of the state's leading pollsters has moonlighted for years as a paid political consultant, and arranged a poll by his top aide for a multimillionaire who is now running as an independent for governor.
Louis DiNatale, who produces public opinion polls at the University of Massachusetts, disclosed the outside work to superiors last week after The Boston Globe inquired about the arrangements and a possible conflict of interest.
DiNatale has advised three current gubernatorial candidates. His freelance work includes a private poll conducted last month for a group lobbying to deregulate the state's automobile insurance rate-setting process.
DiNatale's work also included persuading Christy Mihos, the owner and founder of the Christy's chain of convenience stores who was then thinking of running for governor, to hire Barry Hock, DiNatale's former business partner and currently his chief aide at UMass-Lowell, to conduct a poll privately.
http://www.thebostonchannel.com/politics/7776563/detail.html