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SALT LAKE CITY — Utah's first Navajo woman to run for the Utah Legislature says an opponent's challenge to her campaign is emblematic of one of the very issues she wants to fight.
She says her frustration over the recent complaint about her residency stems from other indigenous Utahns, particularly in San Juan County, being questioned when they run for office.
"My hope, with these types of issues or barriers for indigenous people, I hope this doesn't discourage them to look for office, because we need their voices as well," said community activist Davina Smith, who is running against Rep. Phil Lyman, R-Blanding.
Smith, who is a Democrat, learned last week that Lyman submitted a formal complaint alleging she does not live in the southeast Utah district.
Such allegations are rare in Utah elections. The only other time in recent years state elections officials said they recall another residency challenge took place in 2018.
That was when Willie Grayeyes, who is also Navajo and a Democrat, ultimately won the San Juan 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. In the 1970s, two Navajo political candidates in Utah also faced similar challenges, Smith noted.
Lt. Gov. Deidre Henderson's office confirmed Lyman's complaint against Smith was submitted on March 9, but it was not upheld.
"This is a formal complaint regarding what I believe may be a violation of the residency requirement to run for Utah Legislature," Lyman said in the email to the state elections office, which was obtained by KSL.com.
He said it may "very well" be that Smith is a resident but asked for verification. He said someone at the office told him she would be a resident of the county for more than a year at the time of the election, "but I don't see that qualification in code."
Lyman sent a few screenshots showing what he said made him question her residency. They included a photo of her Facebook page that described her as the CEO of a company in Salt Lake City from 2019 to the present, and a Signal Hire page that showed the same position.
"In her filing for office, Ms. Smith provided a valid public address with a P.O. Box in Monticello and private contact information with a valid address" within her district, the office said in a written statement. "After reviewing the evidence, (Henderson) denied the challenge. Ms. Smith has met the qualifications for office under the Utah code."
When reached by phone, Lyman said his email to Henderson's office was an "inquiry," but he declined any other comment. He told the Salt Lake Tribune, however, that he had received "misleading" information from Henderson's office about residency requirements, and was not trying to disqualify Smith but wanted "to make sure the rules were applicable across the board."
Smith said she showed Henderson's office several forms of proof of address, including a bank statement, her car insurance, check stubs and other documents. When filing for office, she'd also sworn under oath that she resides in the district. She had moved back to her hometown in southeastern Utah last June after living in Salt Lake City.
"It was a chuckle of, like, I can't believe I'm going to have to do this, an indigenous woman who always speaks about her homeland … and that I grew up in this area and that I actually have to prove that I am from this area and that I live in this area," Smith said.
To qualify for candidacy in the Utah Legislature, a person must have resided in the district in which they are running for at least six months.
"I have professionally lived in Salt Lake City, and while residing there to get my education ... I knew there were times when I was asked if I would run for office. I just didn't feel it was right to run in the city that I lived in, because I didn't feel I was from that area. I knew at some point if, when I do return back to San Juan County, I without a doubt always had in my mind that I would always love to run for some form of office," Smith explained.
Even when she lived in Salt Lake City, she said her heart remained in San Juan County, as well as her umbilical cord that was buried there — a Navajo tradition. She was born in Monument Valley.
She said she wishes Lyman had attempted to reach out to her personally before filing a complaint against her.
"There were better, other forms of positive conversation we could have looked into rather than going this route, and so it really was ... it's a form of trickery, and I don't have time for that," Smith said.
She said she wants to instead be able to focus on the goals of her campaign.
Growing up in southeastern Utah, Smith said she saw injustices against her indigenous community, including against members who faced unique challenges when they chose to run for office.
"My goal is to make sure that we keep those diverse voices and perspectives … and continue to advocate for their voices and support them, and make sure they're being heard as well," Smith said.
While attending city and other public meetings over the years, she believes indigenous voices aren't being heard. This past legislative session, she saw legislators speak about rural issues "and again, indigenous perspectives were left out of those conversations," she said. "I would love to sit on those issues and discussions and give my perspectives, because we, as people of color, our voices or our narratives, even our communities, are not being thought about or discussed, or even being heard."
