Congressional candidate and Salt Lake City councilor Eva Lopez Chavez says she will continue her congressional campaign after being accused of sexual misconduct by four women, three of whom are elected officials.
The women allege, as first reported by The Salt Lake Tribune, that Lopez Chavez made unwanted physical advances in social settings between 2019-2022.
In a statement on social media, Lopez Chavez said the allegations should be “treated seriously."
“I welcome a fair and independent investigation, and I will participate fully in any appropriate review,” she wrote. “At the same time, I want to be clear that I deny any wrongdoing and will defend myself through the proper process.”
Her attorney, Greg Skordas, told KUER that Lopez Chavez plans to “proceed with her presentation at Saturday’s [Democratic] convention and defend herself against these allegations.” Her social media statement also said she would continue her work on the Salt Lake City Council.
Elected to the city council in 2023, Lopez Chavez has held prominent positions in Utah Democratic politics, including as executive director of the Salt Lake County Democratic Party.
While scandals and allegations of misconduct are relatively common in politics, another element of the story makes it more distinctive. The accusations involve sexual violence between women.
“What I was struck by most was how unusual the context of this story is, in the sense that we have accusations against a woman and a woman elected official, and the interactions are by and large with other kinds of peers,” said University of Utah political science professor Mathew Burbank.
According to data from the National Sexual Violence Resource Center, 81% of women in America reported experiencing some kind of sexual harassment or assault in their lifetime, mostly by men. Female perpetrators are estimated to make up less than 10% of cases.
Women-on-women violence cases are “not the norm,” said Liliana Olvera-Arbon, the executive director of the Utah Coalition Against Sexual Assault. The allegations levied against Lopez-Chavez, however, are a reminder that this type of violence can reach anyone.
“Sexual violence isn't rare. It impacts people across every community, age, background,” she said. “It doesn't discriminate. And I think that that's what the story also tells us.”
When the alleged perpetrator is a woman, survivors often struggle to label what happened as assault, said Olvera-Arbon, and many of the accusations against Lopez-Chavez date back years. That’s common, she said, as shame and self-blame can keep people silent, often questioning themselves as to why they didn’t stop the assault.
“How is that going to come across? If I'm saying, ‘You know, I was assaulted by a woman,’” Olvera-Arbon said, adding that this mentality contributes to underreporting of sexual assault.
Olvera-Arbon praised the four women who spoke out and believes this will ultimately lead to more survivors of sexual violence coming forward with their own stories.
The political fallout could also reach further than Lopez Chavez’s run for Congress. Lopez Chavez and one accuser, Victoria Petro, both sit on the Salt Lake City Council.
In Burbank’s view, this scandal could affect how the council conducts its business. Lopez Chavez indicated that she plans to continue in her current seat as the process moves forward.
“Now that this has been reported, there's almost no way that this story goes away without having an impact on that working relationship,” he said. “Salt Lake City Council is small enough that there really is no way to avoid that being a cloud hanging over a very large number of things that they may do.”
The council’s statement says that it has “a responsibility to uphold a safe, respectful and accountable environment and we stand unequivocally against all forms of harassment or misconduct. We are actively reviewing the information available to us and are committed to ensuring that this matter is addressed with the urgency and care it requires.”
If more information comes to light, the council said it will take “all actions that are within our authority” to maintain public trust and ensure a harassment-free workplace.
Additionally, the Utah Democratic Party said it is aware of the allegations but has not received any written complaints from victims or witnesses, and should a formal review begin, the party “will follow it thoroughly, confidentially, and with care for everyone involved.”
The fate of Lopez Chavez’s career in politics is unclear, Burbank said. Without hard evidence of misconduct or a formal investigation, there could still be “mixed views.”
“Some will think of this as, ‘Oh, this is really about sexually inappropriate actions and should not be tolerated, and there's no way I could support this candidate,’” he said. “And others may say, ‘Oh no, this just sounds to me like a series of stories. And you know, the candidate has said there's nothing here, and I believe her.’”
Ultimately, what this scandal shows, he said, is that politics in Utah isn’t so different from other places.
“I think what we see here is a little bit of evidence that Utah is not entirely immune to these things, even though we sometimes want to think that we will be.”
Disclosure: One of the accusers in this case, Hoang Nguyen, is a member of KUER and PBS Utah’s Joint Advisory Board.
