MONTICELLO, Utah (AP) — A southeastern Utah county commission is officially majority Native American for the first time after two new Navajo members were sworn in.
The Salt Lake Tribune reportsthat Democrats Willie Grayeyes and Kenneth Maryboy took the oath of office Monday in Monticello. That's the county seat in San Juan County, which has been dogged by allegations of discrimination against Navajo voters for years.
Grayeyes takes office facing another legal challenge to his Utah residency. Republican Kelly Laws, who lost to Grayeyes in November, alleged in a lawsuit last week that Grayeyes lives in Arizona. Grayeyes calls it a political attack.
County officials tried to remove Grayeyes from the ballot before the election, saying an investigation found he lives primarily over the nearby Arizona border.
A federal judge reversed that decision after deciding the county clerk falsified the complaint by improperly backdating it.