Estimated read time: 5-6 minutes
SALT LAKE CITY — For Latinos, representation from someone in your community matters, says Alejandro Puy, who was elected last month to a new term on the Salt Lake City Council.
"It really does matter. It matters a big deal," said Puy, a naturalized U.S. citizen originally from Argentina. "It really takes the lived experience and being part of the community to understand the struggle."
Eva López Chávez, elected last month to her first term on the Salt Lake City Council, thinks bringing racial and ethnic diversity to elected bodies helps build bridges between the varied elements of a community. Her parents are from Mexico, though she was born in Salt Lake City, and she will become the first Mexican-American member of the City Council when sworn in next month, according to City Council staffers.
Moreover, López Chávez said, diversity can open the door to new ways of thinking. "We bring an abundance of new ideas," she said.
Latinos represent a growing share of Utah's population and they're winning election to a range of posts, at least some. Aside from Puy and López Chávez, voters this past cycle elected Rosalba Dominguez to her second term on the Murray City Council and elected Paul Sanchez to a full term for the first time on the South Salt Lake City Council. They elected Manuel Carrillo Gomez to his third term on the City Council in tiny Wendover on the Nevada state line and tabbed Michele Rivera of Millcreek to a seat on the Mount Olympus Improvement District Board of Trustees. The district oversees the wastewater and sewer systems serving Millcreek, Holladay and parts of South Salt Lake and Murray.
"We are a growing population in the state. We should be equally represented in the governing body of the state," said Rivera. Her parents are from Nicaragua while she was born in the United States.
The varied victories this election cycle notwithstanding, some in the community say there's more to do — much more — to make sure Latino representation is commensurate with the group's share of the population. The Latino population reached 527,803 this year, or 15% of Utah's population — up from 360,285, or 13%, in 2010, according to estimates from the University of Utah's Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute.
Sanchez, whose parents are from Argentina while he was born in the United States, expressed a measure of disappointment on learning he was one of only a half-dozen or so Latinos across Utah who won in the local elections last month. He had been appointed to the District 5 South Salt Lake City Council seat last October to fill the remaining two months of Shane Siwik's term after he stepped down, winning election to a full term in November's elections.
"That's not a lot of people," Sanchez said.
Darlene McDonald, cofounder of People of Color Power Coalition, warns that if Latinos, African-Americans and other people of color aren't represented on city councils and other elected bodies "then we are completely left out of the decision-making process." The coalition encourages political involvement among people of color and is holding a "celebration of success" next month to mark the recent wins of Sanchez and other minorities, including two African-American South Lake City Council candidates, Nick Mitchell and incumbent Natalie Pinkney.
"If you're not at the table, you're on the menu," McDonald said, adding that municipal decisions "impact everyone, probably even more than the state and federal level."
To be sure, Puy, López Chávez and the other winners from last month's elections aren't the only Latinos to hold, or soon hold elected positions. There are a handful of Latinos already serving in the Utah Legislature, including Sen. Luz Escamilla and Rep. Angela Romero, both Democrats from Salt Lake City. There are more at the local level, like Ogden City Councilman Luis López, a naturalized U.S. citizen originally from Mexico, and Ogden school board member Arlene Anderson, whose parents came to the United States from Mexico.
But Puy, first elected to a partial two-year term on the Salt Lake City Council in 2021, believes it will take deliberate and concerted efforts if Latinos are to boost their political profile. "It's not just going to happen," he said.
He points to plans to hold a City Council meeting on the west side of Salt Lake City to raise the body's profile among the minority population in the area. "They can see that people like them are elected to office in their part of town," Puy said.
Moreover, there are other ways to serve beyond holding elective office. "Appointing more people of color to boards and committees is key," Puy said.
Without a doubt, though, there are obstacles to boosting political involvement and participation.
Some in the Latino community view government with a wary eye, said Dominguez, while others need motivation to get involved. She's of Mexican descent and says she was the first Latina elected to the Murray City Council. "People will vote if they have a reason to vote," Dominguez said.
Carrillo Gomez in Wendover, a naturalized U.S. citizen originally from the Mexican state of Zacatecas, said many Latinos in his locale aren't registered to vote, which he suspects stems from a lack of familiarity with the process. He attributes his three electoral wins to his 30 years in Wendover and extensive ties to those in the community, which he said is majority Latino.
"We need more education," he said.
López Chávez, though — fresh off her win in her Salt Lake City Council race — maintains an optimistic front, encouraged by the Latinos who have opted to vie for office, win or lose. She defeated incumbent Ana Valdemoros — originally from Argentina and the first minority elected to the Salt Lake City Council, according to council staffers — in the race for the District 4 post. "To me, it shows the vastness of opportunity ahead of us," she said.
Rivera, meantime, offered up a more personal anecdote. She received a call out of the blue during her campaign in the Mount Olympus Improvement District race from a woman who said she was inspired to vote because she could identify with Rivera as a 30-something Latina. "That meant a lot to me as someone who is running," Rivera said.
Indeed, she "definitely" wants to aid in bolstering Latino representation, Rivera said. But that's only part of the motivation — she also wants to connect with the community. "I just want to be involved," she said.
