Queer Utah Councilmember Eva Lopez Chavez Launches Congressional Campaign
The Salt Lake City councilmember announced her run with a campaign grounded in queer visibility, Latina identity, and working class family experience.
Openly lesbian Salt Lake City Council member Eva Lopez Chavez announced this week that she is running for Congress, entering a crowded Democratic primary with a campaign rooted in working class survival, queer identity, and her Latina heritage.
In a campaign launch video posted to Instagram, Lopez Chavez spoke of her childhood, shaped by economic instability and multigenerational caregiving.
“My name is Eva Lopez Chavez. We didn’t have a lot growing up,” she said. “I literally shared a bed with my grandma until I was 16 years old.”
That personal history, Lopez Chavez made clear, is not separate from her politics. It is the reason she says she is running, and the lens through which she intends to govern.
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She described making two promises to her grandmother at a young age.
“One, that I would buy her a house for both of us to live in, and two, that I would fight for people that share our story.”
Those promises, Lopez Chavez said, are now driving her congressional bid.
“Now, as we face crisis after crisis, we must say to each other, enough is enough,” Lopez Chavez said. “That’s why I’m running for Congress to stop the cycle and defend our communities.”
Lopez Chavez is seeking the Democratic nomination in Utah’s newly drawn 1st Congressional District, a race shaped by ongoing legal battles over redistricting and a growing list of candidates. Former U.S. Rep. Ben McAdams, state Sens. Kathleen Reibe and Nate Blouin, and former state Sen. Derek Kitchen have also announced campaigns. The primary has drawn national attention as Republicans appeal court rulings tied to the state’s anti-gerrymandering initiative.
Elected to the Salt Lake City Council in 2023 at age 27, Lopez Chavez made history as the first Latina Mexican American elected to the body and the youngest official at City Hall. In her campaign launch, she framed that experience as preparation for federal office rather than a departure from local work.
“As the first-ever elected Mexican American to Salt Lake City Council and the youngest elected official at City Hall, fighting for working-class families is a daily practice,” Lopez Chavez said. “It’s time for the next generation of leadership, and I’m ready to step up — ready to make sure every Utahn has access to home ownership opportunities, reproductive rights, and to steward our greatest resources: the Wasatch Mountains and the Great Salt Lake.”
Her platform focuses on housing affordability, reproductive rights, and environmental protection, alongside criticism of policies she says favor corporations and the wealthy over everyday Utahns.
“This isn’t just about solving the affordability crisis or lowering the price of eggs,” she said. “This is about us. This is about defending our families, our environment, and our district’s future.”
“We need a fighter, someone that understands that state overreach and billionaire tax breaks hurt us, not help us,” she continued. “It’s time for the next generation of leadership, and I’m ready to step up.”
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Throughout the video, she returned repeatedly to her upbringing and identity as sources of political clarity.
“I’ve been fighting my whole life to help mi familia, and my community,” she said. “Because standing up to bullies is exactly what my mama taught me.”
Her congressional campaign builds on a political career that has consistently prioritized LGBTQ visibility and belonging. During her successful run for City Council, Lopez Chavez spoke openly about the importance of queer representation in Utah politics.
“Salt Lake City is a place for everybody,” she said at the time. “We need to have and practice values that care about LGBTQ people every day here in Salt Lake City. It’s important that we have queer representation as an individual that’s part of the LGBTQ community.”
She has also described Salt Lake City as a gathering place for queer life across the state and region.
“In Salt Lake City, we have the largest Pride festival,” she said. “This is the city that brings our queer families and communities together. I’m here to protect the safe spaces where you choose to be you.”
Calling the city “an oasis in the west,” Lopez Chavez added, “It’s a place for all LGBTQ people to come and visit or make it your home.”
“I’m ready to take on the fight,” Lopez Chavez said about her upcoming campaign. “Fulfill the promise I made to my abuelita and defend Utah’s future. Our future.”
