Former Representative Eric Swalwell (D-CA) has faced significant fallout after multiple women accused him of sexual misconduct and rape. This series of allegations led to the collapse of his gubernatorial campaign and ultimately resulted in his resignation from Congress. Now, in Utah, another scandal has emerged involving a Democrat, although this one involves a lesbian.
Eva Lopez Chavez, a Salt Lake City councilmember and congressional candidate, has been accused of making unwanted sexual advances toward multiple women. Chavez has denied these allegations and even took a polygraph test to prove her innocence. But…the allegations:
Salt Lake City Councilwoman Eva Lopez Chavez, now a Democrat congressional candidate, once described herself as “a Mexican lesbian shaping downtown.”
She is now facing allegations from four women, including three elected officials, who say she restrained them during advances… pic.twitter.com/U1WkvaNC7a
— Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) April 23, 2026
Four people from Utah political circles — three of them elected officials — accuse Eva Lopez Chavez, a Salt Lake City Council member and Democratic congressional candidate, of restraining them during what they considered unwanted sexual advances.
Lopez Chavez, through attorney Greg Skordas, said nothing “inappropriate” occurred during her interactions with three of the people and the fourth alleged contact “never occurred.” She is “shocked by the allegations,” a statement from Skordas said. “She is prepared to address them in any forum. She stands ready to submit to a polygraph test regarding these various allegations if requested.”
Victoria Petro, who is Lopez Chavez’s fellow City Council member; Maggie Regier, who worked on Stan Penfold’s mayoral campaign in 2019; Hoang Nguyen, who is now a state representative; and Jen Plumb, now a state senator, described their allegations in interviews with The Salt Lake Tribune. Each person said their allegations arose in social settings before Lopez Chavez joined the City Council in 2023.
Petro, Regier and Nguyen said they told others at the time, which The Tribune confirmed.
None of the four reported the interactions to police or spoke about them publicly until now. They said they decided to come forward, in part, because of Lopez Chavez’s candidacy for Congress in Utah’s new 1st District and after her reaction to newly disclosed online posts that fellow candidate Nate Blouin made between 2009 and 2015, including statements that minimized sexual assault.
In her statement in response to Blouin’s posts, Lopez Chavez described herself as a survivor of domestic violence and sexual assault and said Blouin should drop out of the race. Leadership, she said, is “defined by integrity and consistency — especially in how we treat women and respond to harm.”
In September 2022, Petro said, she and other council members went to a party after the wedding of a former council member.
At the event, Petro alleges, Lopez Chavez grabbed her by the throat, “pushed me back against a pillar so that my back was against the wall and told me, ‘The only reason I still f— men is because a woman hasn’t shown me what I really want.’”
State Sen. Jen Plumb, D-Salt Lake City, alleges Lopez Chavez pushed her against a wall at a friend’s birthday party in November 2022.
“It absolutely was a sexual advance. She leaned into me, grabbed onto my a–, got up in my face and said in my ear, ‘You’re sure you’re straight?’” Plumb said. “I just pushed her away. Come on. Knock it off.”
Nguyen, who is now a state representative, said Lopez Chavez attended a campaign event for Plumb in the Avenues neighborhood of Salt Lake City in 2022. As Nguyen was leaving the party, she said, Lopez Chavez asked for a ride to her car.
After she drove a few blocks, Nguyen said, Lopez Chavez told her to pull over — which she did, believing they had arrived at her car. “Next thing I know she has leaned over and she’s on top of me, holding my shoulders down,” Nguyen said in an interview.
“I said, ‘What are you doing?’ And she said, ‘Kiss me,’” Nguyen said. “She said, ‘I’m not going to get off you until you kiss me.’ I gave her a peck and she got off.”
For sure, another big, fat Democrat mess. Of course, none of what’s being alleged rises to the level of Swalwell’s alleged transgressions; he was accused of rape twice. But look, you cannot behave this way toward people. And let’s be honest, if Chavez were a man, then no doubt there would be an assault investigation already underway.
