Ludmya "Mia" Love (née Bourdeau; December 6, 1975 – March 23, 2025) was an American political commentator and politician who served as the U.S. representative for Utah's 4th congressional district from 2015 to 2019. A member of the Republican Party, she was the first Haitian American elected to Congress, the first Black person elected to Congress from Utah, and the first Republican Black woman elected to Congress.
Born to Haitian parents in the New York City borough of Brooklyn and raised in Connecticut, Love graduated from the University of Hartford. She was elected mayor of Saratoga Springs, Utah, in 2010, having previously served on its City Council. She spoke at the 2012 Republican National Convention. That year, she ran for Congress in Utah's 4th congressional district, losing narrowly to incumbent Democratic Party U.S. Representative Jim Matheson. She ran for Congress again and was elected in 2014, defeating Democratic opponent Doug Owens; she defeated Owens a second time to win re-election in 2016. After losing re-election in 2018 to Democrat Ben McAdams by 694 votes, Love was hired by CNN as a political commentator in 2019.
In 2022, Love was diagnosed with glioblastoma, an aggressive form of brain cancer. She died in March 2025 at age 49.
Early life and education Love was born Ludmya Bourdeau on December 6, 1975, in the New York City borough of Brooklyn. She was the daughter of Mary and Jean Maxime Bourdeau. At a time of political repression, her parents emigrated together from Haiti in 1973, leaving their two older children behind with family. Her father had been threatened by the Tonton Macoute, the secret police in Haiti, and her parents traveled to the United States on a tourist visa. They spoke no English when they arrived. Her father became a paint company manager, and her mother worked as a nurse.John Fund, "Daughter of Haitian Immigrants Is GOP Congressional Nominee in Utah", The Corner, National Review, April 22, 2012
Love's birth enabled her parents to gain a U.S. residency permit under an immigration law that favored immigrants from the Western Hemisphere who had a child born in the United States; the law expired in January 1976, just 25 days after Love's birth. They later became naturalized citizens.
When Love was five, her family moved from Brooklyn to Norwalk, Connecticut. Love attended Norwalk High School. She was raised as a Catholic in the faith of her parents. After the family settled in Norwalk, her parents brought her older siblings from Haiti to reunite the family.
Love attended the University of Hartford Hartt School with a half-tuition scholarship. She graduated with a degree in musical theatre.
Early career After college, she worked at Sento Corporation and the Echopass Corporation. She was also a flight attendant with Continental Airlines. Love moved to Utah in 1998. Love began to be active in civic affairs when she served as the community spokesperson in Saratoga Springs, Utah, in an effort to persuade the developer of her neighborhood to spray against flies.
In 2003, Love won a seat on the Saratoga Springs City Council. She was the first female Haitian-American elected official in Utah County; she took office in January 2004. During an economic downturn, as part of the city council, Love approved a transition from the agriculture tax to municipal tax. She worked with other city council members to cut expenses, reducing the city's shortfall during the economic downturn from $3.5 million to $779,000. Saratoga Springs by 2011 had attained the highest possible bond rating for a city of its size.
After six years on the council, Love was elected mayor of Saratoga Springs, defeating opponent Jeff Francom by a margin of 861–594. She served from January 2010 to January 2014. During her term, Love led the city in dealing with natural disasters, including a wildfire, followed shortly afterward by a severe mudslide.
U.S. House of Representatives Elections 2012 In 2012, Love ran for Congress in Utah's 4th congressional district. The district was created after the 2010 Census. She competed for the Republican nomination against attorney Jay Cobb and State Reps. Stephen Sandstrom of Orem and Carl Wimmer of Herriman; she won the nomination on April 21, 2012, with over 70 percent of the vote. On December 15, 2011, six-term Democratic 2nd district incumbent Jim Matheson had announced that he would seek the 4th congressional district seat as well.
Nationally, Love received campaign support from 2012 Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney and his wife Ann Romney, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, House Budget Committee Chairman and 2012 Republican vice presidential nominee Paul Ryan, and Speaker of the House John Boehner.
In 2012, National Journal named Love one of ten Republicans to follow on Twitter."Ten Republicans to follow on Twitter," by Adam Mazmanian, National Journal, August 27, 2012, Retrieved November 20, 2015. When speaking to the 2012 Republican National Convention on August 28, 2012, she discussed lessons learned from her parents, immigrants from Haiti who fled political repression. She said, "Mr. President, I am here to tell you we are not buying what you are selling in 2012." CNN described Love as a "rising star".
In September 2012, questions arose about Love's parents' immigration status. Forbes investigated a claim in an article that month in Mother Jones that no law existed in 1976 that would have allowed Love's parents to become citizens of the United States after her birth. Forbes found that immigrants who had been residents of the Western Hemisphere could get long-term residency permits (green cards) if they had a child born in the United States. Mother Jones issued a correction. In an October 2012 interview, her father said that Mia's birth as a U.S. citizen was key to him and his wife gaining permanent legal status and ultimately citizenship.
Love lost the three-way general election to Jim Matheson by 768 votes out of 245,277 votes cast, a difference of 0.31%. Libertarian Jim Vein garnered 6,439 votes. Love was seen as having run a weak campaign, switching campaign managers three times, trying to "nationalize" the race rather than focus on local issues, and missing interviews and appointments, ostensibly because of rifts within her campaign staff.
2014
In May 2013, Love announced she would run for Congress again in 2014. , Love had raised over $475,000 for her campaign. Love was an opening speaker at the 2013 Western Conservative Summit. She spoke of the need for increased grassroots organization in the Republican Party and the need to be independent from the government.In November 2013, Love acknowledged the growing consensus that the Tea Party movement needed to shift away from being the "party of no", disagreeing with its part in forcing a federal government shutdown over the budget.
On December 17, 2013, Matheson announced that he would not run for re-election. Love was ranked as the favored candidate due to her name recognition and district characteristics. In early October 2014, the National Journal listed Utah's 4th district as the congressional district most likely to change hands in November. In early 2014, Love was made a member of the Republican National Committee's National Advisory Council on African-American outreach.
On April 26, 2014, Love won the Republican nomination for the 4th congressional district at the Utah Republican Convention, receiving 78% of the vote. The Democratic Party nominee was Doug Owens, son of former 2nd district four-term Democratic representative Wayne Owens.Another Owens Jumps into Utah Politics, UtahPolicy.com, Bob Bernick, January 27, 2014. Retrieved January 8, 2019. On Election Day, Owens led Love in the vote count until late in the evening, when she pulled ahead and ultimately won by more than 7,000 votes. Reacting to her victory, Love joked to her supporters: "Many of the naysayers out there said that Utah would never elect a Black, Republican, (Latter-day Saint) woman to Congress. Not only did we do it, we were the first to do it."
2016 and 2018
Love ran for re-election in 2016. She again defeated Democrat Doug Owens in the general election with 54% of the vote, over 12 points ahead of Owens. David Scott, a Democratic representative from Georgia, had given $1,000 to Love's campaign.
Love was challenged by Salt Lake County Mayor Ben McAdams, a Democrat, in 2018. In June 2018, CNN stated that the race was considered "consequential to both parties" because Love had "stood up to President Donald Trump on immigration" and "because national Democrats [saw] McAdams as one of their best chances to gain a foothold on red turf."
For several months prior to the election, the match had been rated as a tossup by FiveThirtyEight, RealClearPolitics, and the Cook Political Report Two polls performed in October showed McAdams and Love tied, with either 45% or 46% support each, and remaining respondents undecided. For two weeks after the election, the race was too close to call, but McAdams was declared the winner on November 20, 2018, defeating Love by 694 votes. The margin was .258%, barely over the .25% threshold that would have permitted Love to request a recount.
Following her defeat, President Donald Trump mocked Love, saying, "Mia Love gave me no love, and she lost." In her concession speech, Love hit back at Trump, saying that he and others in the Republican Party had not done enough for minority voters. She added, "This election experience... shines a spotlight on the problems Washington politicians have with minorities and Black Americans—it's transactional. It's not personal. Because Republicans never take minority communities into their home and citizens into their homes and into their hearts, those voters stay with Democrats and bureaucrats in Washington because they do take them home, or at least make them feel like they have a home."
Tenure
With the start of the 2015 Congress, Love was appointed to the House Financial Services Committee. Love joined the Congressional Black Caucus after taking her seat. While campaigning in 2012, Love had said that if elected, she would "join the Congressional Black Caucus and try to take that thing apart from the inside out." She described the mainly Democratic Caucus as characterized by "demagoguery. They sit there and ignite emotions and ignite racism when there isn't. They use their positions to instill fear. Hope and change is turned into fear and blame. Fear that everybody is going to lose everything and blaming Congress for everything instead of taking responsibility." She later acknowledged the bonds created with fellow caucus members. "As the only female Republican member of the Congressional Black Caucus, I have the opportunity every day to work across the aisle on issues that are divisive but important," she said. "My faith and my belief in the humanity of every one of God's children helps me to work with my Congressional Black Caucus colleagues on important issues like criminal justice reform."
In May 2015, she was a lead sponsor with Duncan D. Hunter of HR 2518, the Student Right to Know Before You Go Act, designed to increase the amount of information universities and colleges must provide prospective students. In October 2015, Love was named to serve on the Select Investigative Panel on Planned Parenthood. On two occasions in 2015, Love repaid the federal government for a travel-related expense for which she had been improperly reimbursed. In April 2016, Love got her first bill through the U.S. House. Bill HR3791, which was approved in a 247–171 vote, raised limits on how large community banks can grow; Love asserted that the move would make more credit available.