The Oracle of Utah Politics

For over six decades, the name Dan Jones was synonymous with polling and politics in Utah. Dan observed, polled, and advised on campaigns from 1960 until his death in 2018 with an uncanny ability to understand the political landscape, earning himself the nickname of “Utah’s Political Oracle.” His obsession with accuracy earned him the respect of an entire state-from the “dog catcher to Orrin Hatch”-and his intuition led him to encourage more than a few of Utah’s most respected and successful politicians to run for office. While generations of politicians relied on Dan’s advice and prognostications, his experiences and knowledge provided a rich political history of the last six decades’ behind-the-scenes events. This text recounts the political history of that time through the eyes of Utah’s most prolific pollster.