This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2016, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Walking into Dan Jones' office, one encounters a cluttered amalgamation of books, stacks and stacks of papers, and a TV constantly tuned to the news. Behind the accumulated mounds of information sits one of the nation's most revered pollsters. Jones has seen — and accurately predicted — more than his share of Election Day results. And at 82 years of age, he hasn't lost one ounce of passion for accurately predicting an election.
Dan Jones ran his first poll 57 years ago for Boyd Stewart, U.S. Rep. Chris Stewart's father, who was running for mayor of North Logan. During that first campaign, Dan personally went door-to-door to gather data, getting to know the people who would be represented by his polling results. Since then, he has become a fixture in discussions about the Intermountain West's political races, gathering millions of data points over the years and becoming a trusted source of information cutting through the cacophony of each election cycle.
In 2008, Jones retired from the University of Utah after 52 years of teaching political science to university students all over the state and inspiring the next generation of politically-engaged citizens. He was proud that during those 52 years he hadn't missed a single class for which he was responsible. And the same passion he carried to the classroom he has continued to apply in actively running his polling firm Dan Jones and Associates, never missing a day at work.
Thanks to his commitment and work ethic, Dan Jones and Associates has, for years, provided public polling for Utah Policy, The Salt Lake Tribune and many elected officials throughout the Intermountain West. Jones has served as the pollster for Sen. Orrin Hatch since 1977, for every Utah governor for the past 30 years, as well as for many other elected officials nationally and locally.
Understandably, Jones's polls no longer rely on door-to-door surveys. In fact, Jones has been a leader in constantly innovating how he collects data to ensure the most accurate of polling results. He polls by land line, cell phone, mail and e-mail. He incorporates social media data and texting to ensure the pulse of young voters is captured accurately. He incorporates daily feedback from early voters to ensure real-time insights. And he fastidiously pours over sampling methodology and participation rates to ensure statistical power in each of his studies.
In the most recent election, his polling was — yet again — not only the best in the state but among the most accurate nationally. He correctly predicted every federal, statewide and county race that he tracked. Hard work and innovative strategies paid off yet again. And although he left his office at 2:30 a.m. the night of this year's election, he was back in his cluttered office first thing the following morning, consulting a state leader about what would come next.
If we're smart, we'll all continue to listen to what he says.
A. Scott Anderson is president and CEO of Zions Bank.