March 24, 2025
Mia Love, Utah’s 1st Black Republican Congresswomen, Dies Of Brain Cancer At 49
Utah Gov. Spencer Cox called Love a “true friend” after she passed away peacefully in her home after a fight against brain cancer.
The family of former Republican U.S. Rep. Mia Love (R-UT) reveals she passed away in her home at just 49 years old, Fox News reports.
In a statement posted on X, Love’s family says she passed away peacefully while surrounded by loved ones in her 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 today. She was in her home surrounded by family,” the statement read.
“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,” the family continued.
“We are thankful for the many good wishes, prayers and condolences. We are taking some time as a family and will provide information about funeral services and a public celebration of her life in the days to come.”
According to the Associated Press, Love was undergoing treatment for brain cancer and received immunotherapy as a participant in a clinical trial at Duke University’s brain tumor center. However, in early March 2025, her daughter announced Love was no longer responding to the treatment.
Known as a fighter, Love entered the political realm over 20 years ago in 2003 after securing a seat on the Saratoga Springs city council and later becoming mayor. As a Black Republican and Mormon woman, Love believed the odds would be against her winning a bid for Congress, but she defeated first-time candidate Doug Owens by about 7,500 votes in 2014.
Despite being a member of the Republican party, the daughter of Haitian immigrants kept her distance from President Donald Trump and the MAGA ideology, writing about the America she grew up loving in a Deseret News op-ed, remembering the roots being “respectful, resilient, giving and grounded in gritty determination.”
When she lost a third term attempt in 2018, Trump called Love out by name during a news conference after she openly said she refused to vote for him and endorsed then-presidential hopeful Sen. Ted Cruz. “Mia Love gave me no love, and she lost,” Trump said.
“Too bad. Sorry about that, Mia.”
While urging other elected officials to lead with compassion and communicate honestly with their constituents, Love pushed her hopes for a less divisive country. “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,” Love wrote.
“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. My living wish and fervent prayer for you and for this nation is that the America I have known is the America you fight to preserve.”
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