Latest News

Navajo Times

April 11, 204

Davina Smith of Tsébii’ndzisgaii smiles as she listens to her constituents during a meet and greet at Aneth Chapter House on April 29, 2022.

The Tsébii’ndzisgaii native is running for the second time in Utah’s House District 69 seat, which covers nearly one-third of the Beehive State.

From butterflies to being experienced and determined the second time around, Smith has traveled great lengths to ensure she wasn’t done. Raising almost $200,000 for her campaign in 2022 broadened her horizons of what to expect this year.

Indian Country Today

February 9, 2024

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.

The Times Independent

January 9, 2024

District 69’s current representative, Phil Lyman, defeated Smith for the position in 2022 but announced he will relinquish the seat this year to seek the Utah governorship. Smith said she knew from the moment of her loss in 2022 that she’d run again. She said she was struck by the community connection she saw across the district on election day and wasn’t ready to give up.

“I am competitive, and I learned so much for the duration of my campaign that I knew instantly that my journey was not done,” Smith said.

Based in Blanding, Smith grew up in Monument Valley, Utah and is Diné (Navajo).

The Insider

January 9, 2024

MONTICELLO – On January 2, 2024, Davina Smith of Blanding, Utah, officially filed to run for Utah State House of Representatives for District 69. Davina Smith’s remarkable journey is deeply rooted in her Diné (Navajo) heritage, originating from Monument Valley, Utah. She proudly identifies with the Ta’chii’ nii (Red Running into the Water) clan and Ta’ baa ha’ (Edgewater) clan.

“In 2022, my campaign marked a historic moment as I became the first Diné woman to seek election for the Utah House. This journey brought incredible support and connections with remarkable individuals. It’s with great excitement that I declare my candidacy for HD 69 in 2024…”

The Salt Lake Tribune

December 7, 2023

For generations, Davina Smith’s family has called Monument Valley and its surrounding area home. The small Diné community on the Utah-Arizona border, marked by photogenic sandstone towers, is situated in the largest geographical House district in the Beehive State — District 69.

”A lot of our elderly would always state that they wanted our young Native children to go get an education, to learn as much, gain as much experience, and come back and help our communities,” Smith said. “When the opportunity came up of if I wanted to run, I felt that was the moment.”

High Country News

Jonathan Thompson | Sept. 23, 2022

But this year is especially weird, because not only is President Joe Biden’s performance a factor, but former President Donald Trump still looms over everything.

We scoured the West to bring you a sampling of notable — and hotly contested — races and referendums.

Smith is vying to become the first Diné woman to serve in the Utah Legislature. She faces Lyman in the race to represent the state’s southeastern corner, which contains parts of three tribal nations and has long been a Sagebrush Rebellion hotspot.

San Juan Record

October 12, 2022

Hello friends and neighbors! My name is Davina Smith and I’m excited to be a candidate to serve as your voice in the Utah Legislature. I’ve had the privilege of calling San Juan County home for most of my life — I live in Blanding now but was raised in Monument Valley. I have four amazing children who love where they grew up, but they can’t find affordable housing or a stable job here. I’m running for State House of Representatives to ensure future generations can thrive in rural Utah.

Deseret News

Davina Smith | Oct 18, 2022

One evening, I was knocking voters’ doors in Emery County and I entered a young couple’s house. Children were playing and dogs were barking, but they invited me in to have a conversation on their brown leather couch.

The mounted deer heads and fox tails that covered the living room walls led to a discussion on how to hunt respectfully. We discussed how out-of-towners visit Utah to go hunting without respecting the animals or local regulations. I shared that my family grew up hunting and it’s a deep part of my Navajo culture.

Navajo Times

By Krista Allen | May 5, 2022

The late Katherine Smith, a well-known land defender from Dził Ntsaa, inspired her granddaughter Davina Smith to enter politics.

Her nálí was her muse, said Darlene Smith, Davina’s mother. Davina was only a child in the mid-summer of 1979 when a Bureau of Indian Affairs crew set out to fence Katherine’s property on Dził Ntsaa only to find themselves staring into the muzzle of her .22 caliber rifle.

“She was with her during that time,” Darlene said of Davina. “Katherine was a strong lady, and that’s where Davina got her inspiration.”

San Juan Record

By David Boyle | June 29, 2022

Smith shared with the commission her professional background which includes work as a title 7 Indian Education coordinator in a Salt Lake School District school, as well as work with universities in Utah and Arizona to establish Native Teacher Training Programs. Smith also has worked for Fourth Street Clinic, a healthcare clinic for homeless people in Salt Lake City, and Utah Dine Bikeyah.

Smith, who reports raising $90,000 in campaign funds, said she is running to unite rural voices in the district.

RadioWest on KUER

Renee Bright | May 19, 2022

Last week, the U.S. Department of Interior released an investigative report on Indigenous boarding schools in America. Of the 408 reported, eight were in Utah; three of those Utah schools are still operating.

Guest: Davina Smith (Diné), Consultant with the National Parks Conservation Association as their Organizer/Tribal Coordinator in Southeastern Utah and a resident of San Juan County.

Salt Lake Tribune

By Zak Podmore | March 16, 2022, 6:00 a.m. | Updated: 9:28 a.m.

Blanding - Blanding resident Davina Smith made Utah history late last year when she declared her candidacy for the Utah House of Representatives, making her the first Navajo (Diné) woman to run for a seat in the state legislature.

But Smith said the latest turn of events in the campaign — a residency challenge filed against her by her opponent — is nothing new for San Juan County, where Native Americans have long alleged a trend of political suppression.

Salt Lake Tribune

By Alastair Lee Bitsóí and Connor Sanders

April 18, 2022

Davina Smith, a Diné organizer and tribal coordinator with the National Parks Conservation Association, said she has been working with the Utah Division of Indian Affairs, state and tribal leaders on the need to change such names.

“To give a historical context regarding the word ‘squaw’, it derived from the Algonquin language, it may have once simply meant ‘woman,’ but over generations as early as the 1600s, the word morphed into a misogynist and racist term to humiliate Indigenous women by non-Indigenous people,” Smith said. “Since then, Indigenous women such as myself have had to endure the verbal abuse and trauma … until now.”

The Insider

March 01, 2022

MONTICELLO – Davina Smith and a small group of her closest supporters gathered on February 28th to witness and celebrate the official filing of her 2022 candidacy for Utah State House of Representatives for District #69. Davina belongs to the Ta’chii’nii (Red Running into the Water) clan and is born to the Ta’ baa ha’ (Edgewater) clan.

“As the first Diné woman who will walk up the Courthouse steps to declare she’s running for Utah State Representative, I’ll be thinking about how my actions will inspire those who will one day follow suit.”

The Times Independent

By Sophia Fisher | December 23, 2021

She will take on incumbent Lyman for District 69 seat. Davina Smith and a small group of her closest supporters gathered Monday, Feb. 28, to witness and celebrate the official filing of her 2022 candidacy for Utah State House of Representatives for District 69…

While Monday’s event made her candidacy official, her campaign and message have reached hundreds of people across rural Utah and beyond since launching last last year. Davina’s policu wision that speaks directly to the people of rural Utah is resonating, said campaign manager Molly Gurney.

The Times Independent

By Sophia Fisher | December 23, 2021

Will likely face Phil Lyman to represent Grand County’s district.

Davina Smith, a Democrat, has announced her candidacy to represent Utah House District 69, which includes Grand County, in next year’s state Legislature elections.

Navajo-Hopi Observer

Zak Padmore, Salt Lake Tribune | Originally Published: January 18, 2022

Rep. Phil Lyman has a Democratic challenger for 2022: Diné woman and land protection advocate Davina Smith

MONUMENT VALLEY, UT. — When Davina Smith mounted her horse Oreo on Thursday afternoon, the sun was shining on the iconic, burnt red buttes of Monument Valley, but the wind chill hovered near freezing.

Salt Lake Tribune

By Zak Podmore | Updated: Feb. 10, 2021, 1:20 p.m.

Before Davina Smith began her prayer run from Bears Ears National Monument to Salt Lake City, she traveled to the base of the 8,700-foot Bears Ears Buttes with medicine man Jonah Yellowman.

Smith and Yellowman, who are both from the Monument Valley area on the Navajo Nation, gathered dozens of plant species growing in the high meadows and ponderosa pine forests near Bears Ears and placed them into a medicine bundle.

KSL News

By Ashley Imlay | March 21, 2022

SALT LAKE CITY — Utah's first Navajo woman to run for the Utah Legislature says an opponent's challenge to her campaign is emblematic of one of the very issues she wants to fight.

She says her frustration over the recent complaint about her residency stems from other indigenous Utahns, particularly in San Juan County, being questioned when they run for office.

"My hope, with these types of issues or barriers for indigenous people, I hope this doesn't discourage them to look for office, because we need their voices as well," said community activist Davina Smith, who is running against Rep. Phil Lyman, R-Blanding.

Indian Country Today

By Pauly Denetclaw | June 28, 2022

Smith is from Monument Valley, Utah, where her umbilical cord was buried. She comes from a long line of Diné leadership. Her paternal grandmother was the esteemed and iconic Diné leader, Katherine Smith. During the Navajo-Hopi Land Dispute, thousands of Navajo people were forcibly relocated from their ancestral lands to either nearby communities or urban areas.

In 1979, when BIA agents came to fence off Katherine Smith’s property she defended her home and land with a .22 rifle.