SALT LAKE CITY – Former US Rep. Utah’s Love, the daughter of Haitian immigrants who became the first black Republican woman to be elected to Congress, passed away Sunday.
She was 49 years old.
Love Family posted news of her death on Love X account.
She received recent treatment for brain tumors and immunotherapy as part of a clinical trial at Duke University’s Brain Tumor Center. Her daughter said earlier this month that the former lawmaker had stopped responding to treatment.
Ai passed away at her home in Saratoga Springs, Utah, according to a statement posted by the family.
“I want you to know that she passed away in peace with a heart that is grateful for being overflowing with Mia’s deep influence on our lives,” her family said. “We are grateful for the many good wishes, prayers, and the awareness of pathos.”
Utah Governor Spencer Cox called love “a real friend.”
“Her legacy of service has inspired everyone who knows her,” Cox said in a statement. “We pray for her family and mourn them.”
Love entered politics in 2003 after winning a seat on the city council in Saratoga Springs, a community about 30 miles south of Salt Lake City. She later became mayor of the city.
In 2012, Love narrowly lost a House bid for incumbent Democrat Rep. Jim Matheson in a district covering the suburbs of Salt Lake City.
She ran again two years later, beating her first candidate Doug Owens by around 7,500 votes.
Love did not highlight her race during her campaign, but she acknowledged the importance of the election after her victory in 2014. She said her victory rebelled against denialists who suggested that black, Republican women would not be able to win a seat in Congress in overwhelmingly white Utah.
She was easily considered a rising star within the GOP, and while running for president ahead of the 2016 election, she distanced herself from many Utah voters and unpopular Donald Trump.
In 2016, following the release of a 2005 recording in which Trump made comments about women in reelection, facing reelection, Love skipped the Republican National Convention and issued a statement clearly stating he would not vote for Trump. She instead supported Texas Sen. Ted Cruz in the GOP race, but he dropped out a few months later.
While seeking a third term in 2018, Love tried to separate Trump on trade and immigration, and to support the party’s position on tax cuts. Despite Republican voters surpassing Democrats by a nearly 3-1 margin in her district, she lost less than 700 votes to former Democrat Salt Lake City Mayor Ben McAdams.
Trump called out love by name at a press conference the morning after her death.
“Meer Love didn’t give me any love and she lost,” Trump said. “I’m sorry. Sorry, Mia.”
After her loss, Love served as a political commentator for CNN and as a fellow at the University of Sydney.
Following the Trump election in November, Love said she was “ok with the outcome.”
“Yes, Trump says a lot of compassionate things that are unhappy and impossible to defend. But his policies are likely to benefit all Americans,” Love wrote in a social media post.
