Mia Love has made history after being elected the first Black Republican Congresswoman.
The 39-year-old former mayor of Saratoga Springs, Utah is prepared to make her mark in Washington.
“Tonight, you have made history! Many of the naysayers out there said that Utah would never elect a Black Republican LDS (Latter Day Saint) woman to Congress,” she said after winning Utah’s 4th House district .
“Not only did we do it, but we were the first to do it!”
Love will also be the first Haitian-American of any gender to serve in Congress. She joins other Republicans elected to the House and the Senate after yesterday’s midterm elections. Love says she plans to join the Congressional Black Caucus, a primarily Democratic organization, and has no problem making them uncomfortable.
“I’m kind of a nightmare for the Democratic Party. They don’t want me in there, but I’m coming,” Love said.
The Brooklyn-born daughter of Haitian immigrants is a practicing Mormon, and is also pro-life and pro-gun. She even holds a concealed-weapons permit.
Love’s first attempt at Congress was not nearly successful. She lost her race in 2012 by only 768 votes. Now that she’s in office, she hopes to make serious changes to laws made under the Obama administration.
“I love the story of David and Goliath, because in that story, David turns toward Goliath, a seemingly impossible challenge. That’s the type of confidence we need to have as we take on the Goliaths of our debt, out-of-control spending, Obamacare, and the Goliath that we call the federal government,” Love said during one of her debates with Democratic opponent Doug Owens.
Love doesn’t want to be counted out just because she doesn’t “fit the mold”
“I wasn’t elected in Saratoga Springs because of my gender or my heels. I was elected by the people there because I had a plan and a vision to get us financially stable,” Love said.
“Think about people like Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Imagine if he tried to fit into this mold that society told him to fit into. Imagine if he just listened to the government because they told him he was a second-class citizen.”