Mia Love, the first Black Republican woman elected to Congress, died on Sunday. She was 49 years old.
Love’s family shared the news on her X account on Sunday, revealing that she passed away at home in Saratoga Springs, Utah. “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 in a statement. “We are thankful for the many good wishes, prayers and condolences.”
Love had been diagnosed with brain cancer and underwent immunotherapy as part of a clinical trial at Duke University’s brain tumor center, according to the Associated Press.
In an open letter published by Deseret News on March 11, Love shared that she was no longer responding to treatment and was spending her final days surrounded by loved ones. “I am taking up my pen, not to say goodbye but to say thank you and express my living wish for you and the America I know,” Love wrote.
She used the letter not just to share her health update, but to reflect on the country she loved, drawing from her upbringing as the daughter of Haitian immigrants.
“The America I know is grounded in the gritty determination found in patriots, pioneers and struggling parents, in small business owners with big ideas, in the farmers who work in the beauty of our landscapes and the artists who paint them, in our heroic military and our inspiring Olympic athletes, and in every child who looks at the seemingly impossible and says, ‘I can do that,’ ” she wrote in her letter.
“The America I know is great — not because government made it great but because ordinary citizens like me, like my parents and like you are given the opportunity every day to do extraordinary things. That is the America I know,” she continued.
“In the end, I hope that my life will have mattered and made a difference for the nation I love and the family and friends I adore. I hope you will see the America I know in the years ahead, that you will hear my words in the whisper of the wind of freedom and feel my presence in the flame of the enduring principles of liberty,”Love added.
The mother of three made history in 2014 when she became the first Black Republican woman elected to Congress. But her political journey began years earlier, when she won a seat on the Saratoga Springs City Council in 2003. She later became the city’s mayor before setting her sights on Congress.
Her first congressional run in 2012 ended in a narrow loss to Democratic incumbent Jim Matheson, but she didn’t give up. Two years later, she ran again and won, defeating Doug Owens by about 7,500 votes.
While she didn’t focus on her race during her campaigns, Love acknowledged the significance of her 2014 victory, saying it proved the doubters wrong—those who said a Black, Republican, Mormon woman couldn’t win in overwhelmingly white Utah.
Love was seen as a rising star within the Republican Party, but she often kept her distance from Donald Trump. During the 2016 presidential race, she made it clear she wouldn’t vote for Trump, especially after the release of the infamous 2005 recording where he made lewd comments about groping women. Instead, she backed Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, though he eventually dropped out.
Two years later, as she sought a third term in Congress, Love tried to balance her party’s stance on tax cuts with a more independent approach on trade and immigration. However, despite Republicans outnumbering Democrats nearly three-to-one in her district, she lost to former Salt Lake City Mayor Ben McAdams by fewer than 700 votes.
After leaving Congress, Love transitioned into media, serving as a political commentator for CNN.
“In the midst of a celebration of her life and an avalanche of happy memories, Mia quietly slipped the bands of mortality and, as her words and vision always did, soared heavenward,” her family said in their Sunday statement. “We are thankful for the many good wishes, prayers and condolences.”
Funeral arrangements and plans for a “public celebration of her life” will be announced in the days ahead, according to Love’s family.
