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Kalle Benallie
ICT
Davina Smith, Navajo, said got all her jitters out the first time she ran for Utah representative in 2022. She’s even more determined for her second round of campaigning for the District 69 seat.
Her former opponent Phil Lyman announced in October 2023 that he won’t be seeking reelection and is instead running for governor. So far, two Republican candidates Lynn Jackson and Logan James Monson will be facing Smith if she advances in the Utah House of Representatives Democratic primary election on June 25.
“When I knew that I wasn’t going to win, I still felt that it wasn’t over for me,” she said.
This time around she plans on building a bigger team.
She said her first time campaigning was an eye opener and she learned a lot. She raised almost $200,000 for her campaign and tried to meet with all the communities in her district. District 69 consists of six counties and is about a third of the state of Utah. It was redistricted for Utah’s 2022 legislative elections.
“It is a lot of work but it’s so important that the people in my district understand that that’s who I am,” Smith said. “I genuinely do want to understand their concerns. Come to find out whether we are republicans, or democrats or independents, we really do have the same concerns. That is my hope that I can convey as running in this district. I am a person who wants to support and be a representative for our district.”
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Smith grew up in Monument Valley, Utah, with her grandparents where she had cattle and herded sheep. She said she knows what it feels like to struggle from hauling water and having no electricity. They additionally felt the effects of uranium mining, which her grandfather worked in and that she said infiltrated their livestock’s water and was present in the dirt.
“There’s this perception that I don’t know what it feels like to live off the land. I do genuinely. But also I come with another perspective of I lived in the city so I understand how it feels walking two worlds,” she said.
Smith is concerned how many Utah issues are not addressing rural issues, specifically in the southeastern part of the state. Some bills that have been introduced by Republicans in Utah’s recent legislative session are mandating mail-in ballots to arrive at the clerk’s office by Election Day. As of now, they just have to be postmarked by Election Day. Another bill that was introduced is to require voters who want to vote by mail to request it. Contrary to county clerks who send the mail-in ballots automatically.
Smith said there are residents in Navajo Mountain in San Juan County that could be impacted, like having to travel hours out of their way to vote.
“We’re talking about them having to maybe leave work, get out of work. It’s November so who knows we might have some severe weather conditions,” she said.
Some of the issues that she hopes to work on if elected is improving the education system in rural communities, teacher’s salaries, housing, investing the taxes from tourism to be invested back into the communities, healthcare and support for veterans. She said she’s not a career politician and being an Indigenous woman brings a different perspective to the table.
“There’s a lot we need to address, and that is why I ran. That’s why I wanted to make a better impact for our rural communities. The goal is to win and when that happens I look forward to doing some work that needed to be done a long time ago,” she said.
She said one thing voters should know about her is that she’s not anti-gun. She said her father, who is originally from Big Mountain, Arizona, was a coal mine operator, union president and welder hunted growing up and taught his daughters how to shoot a gun.
Her grandmother, Katherine Smith, was heavily involved in the Navajo-Hopi land dispute, as an elder resistor against being relocated and the extraction of coal in the Black Mesa, Arizona area.
“I saw first-hand how it impacted our land, our community. Yes, I know those were some big benefits for our community in terms of economic growth and development, but I also saw how it was hurting our land as well. To this day, I do speak on issues on those that are impacting our communities,” she said.
Smith said this example is why it’s important for Native voters to vote so issues like those are made pertinent across Utah.
NPR reported that Native voters in 2024 could have significant impacts in multiple states across the United States during the election season. Approximately 5 million Native Americans and Alaskan Natives are eligible to vote.
Smith encourages more Native people to seek office and is open to connect with others. She wants Indigenous candidates to know that there are communities and support systems that will stand behind them.
“Yes, I completely understand the thought of it is terrifying. I can relate heavily with that. But also I want to convey if you have that inkling or if you have that feeling of maybe running something – it can be anywhere from running for county clerk or city council — I encourage you to take that step because you never know what’s going to happen. If you have that inkling that you want to be that change, do it,” Smith said.
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