SALT LAKE CITY — Former U.S. Rep. Mia Love of Utah, a daughter of Haitian immigrants who became the first Black Republican woman elected to Congress, died Sunday.
She was 49.
Love’s family posted news of her death on Love’s X account.
She had undergone recent treatment for brain cancer and received immunotherapy as part of a clinical trial at Duke University’s brain tumor center. Her daughter said earlier this month that the former lawmaker was no longer responding to treatment.
Love died at her home in Saratoga Springs, Utah, according to a statement posted by the family.
“With grateful hearts filled to overflowing for the profound influence of Mia on our lives, we want you to know that she passed away peacefully,” her family said. “We are thankful for the many good wishes, prayers and condolences.”
Utah Gov. Spencer Cox referred to Love as a “true friend.”
“Her legacy of service inspired all who knew her,” Cox said in a statement. “We pray for her family and mourn with them.”
Love entered politics in 2003 after winning a seat on the city council in Saratoga Springs, a growing community about 30 miles (48 kilometers) south of Salt Lake City. She later became the city’s mayor.
In 2012, Love narrowly lost a bid for the House against the Democratic incumbent, former Rep. Jim Matheson, in a district that covers a string of Salt Lake City suburbs.
She ran again two years later and defeated first-time candidate Doug Owens by about 7,500 votes.
Love didn’t emphasize her race during her campaigns, but she acknowledged the significance of her election after her 2014 victory. She said her win defied naysayers who had suggested that a Black, Republican, Mormon woman couldn’t win a congressional seat in overwhelmingly white Utah.
She was briefly considered a rising star within the GOP and she kept her distance from Donald Trump, who was unpopular with many Utah voters, while he was running for president ahead of the 2016 election.
In 2016, facing reelection and following the release of a 2005 recording in which Trump made lewd comments about groping women, Love skipped the Republican National Convention and released a statement saying definitively that she would not vote for Trump. She instead endorsed Texas Sen. Ted Cruz in the GOP race, but he dropped out months later.
While seeking a third term in 2018, Love tried to separate herself Trump on trade and immigration while still backing her party’s positions on tax cuts. Despite Republican voters outnumbering Democrats by a nearly three-to-one margin in her district, though, she lost by fewer than 700 votes to former Salt Lake City Mayor Ben McAdams, a Democrat.
Trump called out Love by name in a news conference the morning after she lost, where he also bashed other Republicans who didn’t fully embrace him.
“Mia Love gave me no love, and she lost,” Trump said. “Too bad. Sorry about that, Mia.”
After her loss, Love served as a political commentator on CNN and as a fellow at the University of Sydney.
Following Trump’s election in November, Love said she was “OK with the outcome.”
“Yes, Trump says a lot of inconsiderate things that are unfortunate and impossible to defend. However, his policies have a high probability of benefiting all Americans,” Love wrote in a social media post.