Brooklyn Native Elected In Utah As First Black Woman Republican Ever In Congress
SARATOGA SPRINGS, Utah (CBSNewYork) -- A Brooklyn native was elected in Utah this week as the first black woman Republican in ever in Congress.
Mia Love, 38, defeated Democrat Doug Owens Tuesday to win her contest in the Fourth Congressional District in Utah. She previously served as the mayor of Saratoga Springs, Utah – a town of about 18,000 located around 40 miles from Salt Lake City.
Love was born in Brooklyn to Haitian immigrants, and later moved with her family to Connecticut. She graduated from the University of Hartford with a degree in Fine Arts, and later converted to the Mormon faith and moved to Utah.
She served two terms on the City Council in Saratoga Springs, Utah, and served as mayor through a period of 1,700 percent population growth in a decade, according to her campaign page.
Love campaigned "conservative positions on limited government, increased citizen liberties and limited restraints on business," according to her campaign page. "She believes the best thing she can do as mayor is stay out of the way of business and out of the lives of citizens. She advocates a return to the personal responsibility and reduced government dependency engendered by her father."
Love was making her second run for Congress this year, after losing by 768 votes to Democratic Rep. Jim Mathieson in 2012, according to the Salt Lake Tribune. But Mathieson did not run for reelection, and Love ran again and won this year.
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