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SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — A Navajo man is winning a county commission race where he fought to get on the ballot for the first general election after a judge ruled that local voting districts were illegally drawn along racial lines.
As of Friday afternoon, Democrat Willie Grayeyes is leading the race by 95 votes, with about 53 percent to Republican Kelly Laws's 47 percent, according to state election reports.
A Grayeyes victory would make the San Juan County Commission majority-Navajo for the first time. Kenneth Maryboy, also Navajo, ran unopposed for county commission in San Juan County's third district, earning 1,005 votes, according to Utah elections records.
Utah Diné Bikéyah, a nonprofit group that supports Native American tribes in Utah, called the race a victory for Grayeyes in an emailed statement Friday afternoon. Grayeyes also is a board member for Utah Diné Bikéyah.
"We will create conversations to hopefully change local attitudes toward Native Americans and our priorities," Grayeyes said in the statement. "You have to be positive in order to get results."
Grayeyes has said that he wants to help address disparities faced by Native Americans in the southeastern Utah county that overlaps with the Navajo Nation.
While county leaders acknowledge those issues, they say it's wrong to lay the blame on the county when tribal and federal governments also play a large role in Navajo Nation services.
Republican Phil Lyman, who Grayeyes would replace on the commission, defeated Marsha M. Holland to earn a seat in the Utah state House of Representatives.
Lyman will represent House District 73, which covers a huge swath of southern Utah, including portions of San Juan, Kane, Garfield, Wayne, Piute, Sevier and Beaver counties.
Contributing: Jacob Klopfenstein, KSL.com
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