SALT LAKE CITY – With just a day still to go before the State Democratic Nominating Convention, political lightning has once again struck the heated race for the congressional seat representing Salt Lake County.
In the wake of disturbing revelations about state Sen. Nate Blouin’s decades-old offensive social media posts on internet forums making light of women’s issues, sexual assault and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, four prominent Democratic women have come forward accusing candidate Eva Lopez Chavez of unwanted sexual advances.
“This is a moment for facts, due process and accountability,” Salt Lake City Council member Lopez Chavez said a statement released on April 22 in which she denied those allegations.
“I am confident that a full and impartial examination will bring clarity and I believe the truth will prevail,” she added.
Lopez Chavez’s accusers are Victoria Petro, a fellow Salt City City Council member; Maggie Regier, a political consultant; state Rep. Hoang Nguyen; and state Sen. Jen Plumb.
In relating their experiences to the Salt Lake Tribune, each of those women said their accusations arose from contact with Lopez Chavez in social settings prior to her joining the Salt Lake City Council in 2023.
The embattled candidate is willing to submit to a polygraph test to prove that allegations are false, according to Greg Skordas, her attorney.
“This is a terrible thing to do to a person just days before her conventions,” the attorney added. “It’s politics at its worst.
“She has no time or ability to set the record straight. I can only assume that’s why these untrue allegation are being made now.”
But Lopez Chavez’s accusers said they came forward now in response to her public reaction to the revelations about Blouin’s past in mid-April, in which she portrayed herself a martyr who has survived domestic violence and sexual assault.
As Skordas suggested, the timing of this new controversy could hardly be worse for Lopez Chavez.
Four of the rival candidates for the District 1 seat in Congress have already gathered enough signatures to quality for the Democratic Primary ballot regardless of the outcome of voting at the Democratic Nomination Convention on Saturday. They include front-runner Ben McAdams and Blouin, Liban Mohamed and Michael Farrell.
While Lopez Chavez’s candidacy is strongly support by the Hispanic community in Salt Lake County, the office of Lt. Gov. Deidre Henderson reports that she is still about 1,000 signatures short of the 7,000 signature threshold needed to quality for the upcoming Democratic Primary in June.
The State Democratic Nominating Convention will be held on April 25 at Jordan High School in Sandy.