Mia Love, the first Black Republican woman elected to Congress, passed away on March 23, 2025, after a battle with glioblastoma, a form of brain cancer. She was 49.
Love, the daughter of Haitian immigrants, was born on December 6, 1975, in Brooklyn, New York. She attended the University of Hartford and earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree. She converted to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints during this time and moved to Utah.
Love entered politics in 2003, winning a seat on the city council in Saratoga Springs, Utah, a rapidly growing community south of Salt Lake City. In 2009, she became the city’s mayor.
In 2014, Love was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives, becoming the first Black Republican Congresswoman and the first Black lawmaker representing the state of Utah. She represented Utah’s 4th Congressional District from 2015 to 2019.
During her time in Congress, she was a lead sponsor of the Student Right to Know Before You Go Act, designed to increase the amount of information universities and colleges must provide to prospective students.
Love achieved her first legislative success in the U.S. House in 2016, when H.R. 379, the Small Bank Holding Company Relief Act, passed. This bill raised limits on how large community banks could grow, with Love arguing that it would increase credit availability. She also introduced the Stop Taxpayers Obligations to Perpetrators of Sexual Harassment Act, advocated against pyramid schemes and requested that the U.S. Department of Education allow state regulation of student loan providers, among other legislative efforts. In May 2018, the Small Bank Holding Company Relief Act became law.
Following her congressional tenure, Love became a political commentator for CNN and served as an elector for Utah in the 2020 Electoral College.
Love 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 today. She was in her home surrounded by family. In the midst of a celebration of her life and an avalanche of happy… pic.twitter.com/YzhAuH1l9x
— Mia Love (@MiaBLove) March 24, 2025
In 2022, Love was diagnosed with glioblastoma, a malignant brain tumor. Despite undergoing surgery to remove a significant portion of the tumor, her daughter recently announced on social media that further treatments were no longer effective, and the family was focusing on spending quality time together.
Love is survived by her husband, Jason Love, and their three children: Alessa, Abi and Peyton. She will be remembered by her family, friends, constituents and the many lives she touched.
