Politics
Mia Love likely to make history if elected as 1st conservative black woman to U.S. Congress
Mia Love, the former mayor of Saratoga Springs, Utah, addresses the Republican National Convention, August 28 2012. PHOTO/J. Scott Applewhite
Mia Love, a Republican who could become the first conservative black woman elected to U.S. Congress, is getting a second, and likely better, chance to make history after narrowly losing to a popular incumbent Democrat in 2012.
The 39-year-old Mia Love, is a Mormon mother of three who is upending stereotypes about the state and its predominant faith. She locked up her party’s nomination to vie for an open seat in Utah’s 4th District at a state convention in April with an overwhelming 78 percent of the vote.
The seat became available when Jim Matheson retired after seven terms in Congress as the heavily conservative state’s lone Democrat in Washington. Two years ago, Matheson beat Love by fewer than 800 votes.
If Love wins this time, she would become an unlikely champion in Washington of staunchly conservative views – limited government, fiscal discipline and state’s rights. The daughter of Haitian immigrants is pro-life, pro-gun and holds a concealed weapons permit.
She also supports Utah’s effort to reclaim public land from federal agency controls, a hot issue in the U.S. West among conservatives, and has said she would vote against regulations she believes would restrict economic development.
In November, Love will face Doug Owens – a Democrat and first-time candidate in a conservative district created after the 2010 Census that encompasses parts of Democratic-leaning Salt Lake City, then runs south along the Wasatch Front into parts of rural Utah that are typically Republican strongholds.
Her competitor, a 50-year-old attorney, is the son of former Utah U.S. Representative Wayne Owens, also a Democrat. Despite her 2012 loss, Love has never left the political scene. The former mayor of Saratoga Springs has continued to speak at state and local Republican and community events, and has been tapped as a conservative commentator by numerous conservative national media programs.
