Back to the BYU Cougars Newsfeed

Gay ex-Mormon Navajo to face off against incumbent in Salt Lake City’s District 2 race

Sitting Salt Lake City Councilman Andrew Johnston will run for a second term against Moroni Benally, a gay ex-Mormon who ran unsuccessfully for president of the Navajo Nation in 2014 and now hopes to serve Salt Lake City’s diverse District 2.

Johnston, 44, is a social worker with Volunteers for America and the former chairman of the Poplar Grove Community Council who points to his experience serving the council as a boon for residents in the district moving forward.

If elected to a second term, he says he would focus on diversity in housing, increased bus service to his area and “rebranding” perceptions of the west side.