Ivan DuBois, Political Influencer

From longest-ever serving director of the Utah Republican Party to experiencing firsthand the political history of the United States (serving as Chief of Staff to former Utah Fourth District Congresswoman Mia Love), Ivan DuBois plans on making Washington, DC his home and using it as a base for his political consulting work as well as helping return Utah’s Fourth Congressional District to its Republican roots in the 2020 election cycle.

I know most people don’t believe they can change policy. If you think that way someone else does it. Right now we are watching the rise of socialism in a national way – something I never believed I would see in my lifetime. Now is not the time to walk away from being involved. A lot is at stake. Freedom and liberty can go away easily if we do not stay engaged! Ivan DuBois

Candidates.vote– So to work with former Congresswoman Love and make the move from the mountains and deserts of Utah to the Potomac River basin and Washington, D.C., it had to be a bit of cultural shock?

DuBois– We love it here! There is so much history all around us and professional baseball. We are living in Virginia just eight miles from the Capital but it takes 45-minutes to get there. One of our favorite places is Mount Vernon. We love taking our daughter who is in first grade there, plus it’s just the history of the place and George Washington is my hero.

Candidates.vote– What is it about George Washington that makes him your hero?

DuBois– Talk about a man with a strong set of principles. He could have been King! He had such a clear way of doing things and he brought so many people together. There has never been anyone like him since the founding of our nation. And you think about it; they knew no one else but him. Just a very great man.

Candidates.vote– With the Utah Fourth District moving to a Democrat as its representative that has to be a bit different in terms of what you do each day?

DuBois– Things have been so far so good in terms of being right in the middle of things back here. I’m doing a lot of consulting and in so many ways you get your life back. But being here in Washington; there’s always something going on and you can be a part of.

And there are already people talking about Utah’s Fourth District and we have to win it back. You can be sure I’ll be involved there. We have to get that seat back.

Candidates.vote– So you are known for having been the longest serving Director of the Utah Republican Party in that state’s history; from 2007 to 2013. And then you did a great deal of work with the Utah State Senate. So here’s a Utah political question for you.

Are you a hamburger or a cheeseburger kind of person? And I’m asking that as a political question because I have a feeling with as many years as you worked in Utah GOP politics I know where you ate cheese or no cheese.

DuBois– Oh, easily cheeseburger. There’s nothing better than a Hires Golden-H cheeseburger with onion rings on it.

Candidates.vote– Pickles or no pickles?

DuBois– No pickles. Hires is definitely one of the things I miss from being in Salt Lake. (Hires is a drive in location in Salt Lake City, Utah that has gained a “political” reputation as to where political influences, elected officials, and lobbyists can sit down and talk the issues of the day over any number of burger combinations.)

Candidates.vote– What book, or books can we find Ivan DuBois reading these days?

DuBois– It’s usually fiction. I love a good mystery. I like reading Jake Tapper; and yes, I know he’s with CNN, but he’s a good read. Oh, and I love John Grisham. And there’s the new ago westerns being written by C.J. Box, where all the stories take place in Wyoming, Idaho and Montana.

He’s becoming the new Louis L’Amour. The one I’m reading right now involves park rangers, environmentalists and some of them get themselves murdered. It’s just great mystery.

Candidates.vote– You watched as Congresswoman Love went through a campaign battle many saw as being one of the toughest and nastiest in the country. There are those who point to things such as that and others as kind of making “politics” a dirty word and walk away from involvement, or are tempted to. What would you say to someone thinking such things?

DuBois – The stakes have never been higher in politics than they are now and it’s not the time to give up on politics. There is so much at stake with our country. Sure, if you’re uncomfortable then get out of it, but engage – engage is something and do something to give back.

Our system only works when we stay engaged. And there is always something going on you can become involved in. Things are always ramping up or ramping down, but there’s always something going on.

Candidates.vote– You sound very passionate about those things you are saying. Where did you develop a love for America’s political system?

DuBois– You mean when did I get geeked out about politics? I grew up in Riverton, Utah. From the time I was a little kid I have just been so fascinated with it. Working in D.C. you can see just how even one person can influence policy.