Mia Love
U.S. House of Representatives, Utah’s Fourth District
Mitt Romney has extremely limited appeal to serious libertarians, but Utah freedom-lovers may thank him for helping to carry Saratoga Springs Mayor Mia Love to victory in her race for Congress. Love, a fast riser in Utah politics, has attracted the support of establishment and anti-establishment Republicans alike not just because of her potential to make history as the first African-American Republican woman to be elected to Congress, but because of her clear western Republican views.
Love was born in Brooklyn and raised in Connecticut by her Haitian parents before moving to Utah and getting married. She started her political career in 2003 when she was elected to the Saratoga Springs City Council. In 2009 she successfully ran for mayor.
Love has been positively described as a “Trojan horse libertarian” by some conservative bloggers for her positions on homeschooling, federal control of land, and other issues. Liberals have attacked her for her backing entitlement reform and the privatization of student loans. Libertarians should enjoy Love’s serious talk about eliminating the federal Department of Education and Department of Energy.
Love does not support marriage equality but opposes the Defense of Marriage Act on the grounds that the federal government has no business in dictating how states should handle marriage.
Love is challenging Rep. Jim Matheson, a very conservative Democrat and six-term incumbent who voted to repeal ObamaCare and opposes marriage equality. There are more Republicans in the district’s newly drawn boundaries than before, and only a small portion of it overlaps with Matheson’s previous constituency. National Democrats and Republicans are pouring money into this race as they see it as extremely close. (Cook rates it a “toss up.”) Matheson has withstood strong challenges before, but that was when his district was constructed in his favor.
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