SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – Utah political icon Dan Jones has died at the age of 84. Jones was a distinguished political pollster and consultant in the state for decades.
Many politicians relied on his wisdom, and thousands of students learned the art of political science from his lectures.
Jones was a fixture on KSL TV every election season for decades. Over the years, he and his staff became one of the most successful polling firms in the country. He conducted his first survey in 1959, and co-founded Dan Jones and Associates in 1980. It quickly became the premiere market research and public opinion company in Utah.
Election Night 2010 brought cheers from Mike Lee supporters as they watched Dan Jones predict that Lee would become Utah’s newest Senator. Jones and his staff went 10 for 10 on that year’s projections, matching the actual vote percentages. That kind of exactness was always a challenge.
“I’d say it’s a tad amount of stress,” Jones told KSL at the time.
Election days were busy for his staff, as they spread out to interview voters at several polling locations.
Exit poll data was collected outside of polling places. After voters cast their real ballots, some were asked by Dan Jones and Associates to fill out a separate ballot. That information was then compiled to determine the results.
For years, Jones’ staff collected exit poll ballots in four waves throughout the day.
“We start at 7 a.m. and went until 9 a.m. Then we interviewed from 11 a.m. until 2 p.m. Then we interviewed (again) from 4:00 till 6:00,” he said.
That data was compiled and processes in order to make the 8 p.m. predictions on television.
Then, one final round of exit poll ballots were collected, which were key in calling the close races.
As the numbers of early voter ballots have increased, Jones had to factor those into his predictions. Those early votes gave Jones an early idea of how the night would go.
“You can tell who the winners are, but you can’t tell what the spread will be,” he said.
Other factors in exit polling that helped Jones in making his predictions included a voter’s party affiliation, ideology, religion and age.
In April 2008, Jones was recognized for his influence as a political icon in the state with a scholarship for political internships in his name. Jones was honored at a luncheon at the University of Utah. A “who’s who” of the political world attended the event.
Lobbyists Frank Pignanelli and Doug Foxley spearheaded the effort, along with the Hinckley Institute of Politics.
The new Dan Jones Future Leaders Scholarship kicked off with $125,000.
Dr. Jones received his Ph.D. at the University of Utah, and taught there for more than 50 years. Marcus Nord was one of his students.
“(When) you enter his class, you’re expecting just to know the normal, political science class and you come out loving politics, loving the system and wanting to get involved,” said Nord.
“The stories he told of his encounters with politicians could probably not have been surpassed by anybody else,” said former student Linda Clark.
He could take a little ribbing from time to time, too.
“When I started telling people I was supporting for president a grumpy old man with little television appeal and a cool comb over, they wondered if Dan was running for president,” said former governor and current US ambassador to Russia Jon Huntsman said.
Jones was passionate about political responsibility.
“Democracy is not meant for the naïve or apathetic, and that doesn’t give you a right to say, ‘I don’t know. I don’t care or give a darn.’ You see, democracy survives on participation,’” he said.
Political leaders and students said they were grateful for Dan Jones, a man they respected for his determination and passion that went beyond politics, passion for American democracy, for this country he loved.
Jones leaves behind his wife Pat. Together, they have 7 children and 16 grandchildren.
