SALT LAKE CITY – Eva Lopez Chavez, a member of the Salt Lake Council, has tossed her hat into the ring for election in Utah’s 1st Congressional District.
“I’m a proud daughter of Mexican immigrants who knows firsthand the challenges working families of our district face,” according to Lopez Chavez in a video released Dec. 18 announcing her campaign.
She was the first Mexican-American ever elected to the SLC municipal council and, if elected to Congress, would be the first Latina to represent Utah in the U.S. House.
Under a recent 3rd District Court ruling that scrambled Utah’s congressional districts, that could happen.
That November ruling by Judge Dianna Gibson puts pressure on Utah’s current congressional delegation, leaving four serving Republicans to compete for only three safe GOP seats in areas other than Salt Lake City.
The 1st Congressional District meanwhile moves from northern Utah to the SLC metro area, where former Rep. Ben McAdams – the last Democrat to represent Utah in Congress – faces several potential progressive challengers, including Lopez Chavez.
That 1st District is now a Democratic-leaning seat that covers most of Salt Lake County. Analysis by Nathan Gonzales of the Inside Elections website projects that former Vice President Kamala Harris would have carried that district by 24 percentage points in the 2024 presidential election.
“I’ll take on anyone – especially our own federal government – that seeks to build an (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) facility, a gondola and expansive freeways in this very district,” she promised in her announcement.
“This is not infrastructure; this is violence against our communities.”
If elected, Lopez Chavez has also pledged to fight mass deportations of immigrants by the administration of President Donald Trump.
She was born in Salt Lake City and raised in a federal migrant camp in Twin Falls.
Lopez Chavez was the first member of her family to attend the University of Utah, where she studied Political Science before joining the city administration of Mayor Erin Mendenhall in 2020. In that capacity, she has advocated for saving the Great Salt Lake, achieving attainable housing and supporting small businesses as well as championing arts and culture.
Under Utah’s new political map, which is still being disputed by state lawmakers, Cache Valley will be part of the 2nd Congressional District starting with the 2026 election cycle.
Political analysts say that the new 2nd District still retains about 95 percent of its previous 2024 voters, suggesting that the district will remain comfortable Republican for at least the next decade.