Mia Love

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.

Ludmya "Mia" Love ( Bourdeau; December 6, 1975) is an American political commentator and former politician who served as the U.S. representative for Utah's 4th congressional district from 2015 to 2019.

A Haitian American, she was the first black person elected to Congress from Utah, the first Haitian-American elected to Congress, and the first black woman elected to Congress as a Republican.

Love was born to Haitian parents in the New York City borough of Brooklyn.

Love was born Ludmya Bourdeau on December 6, 1975 in the New York City borough of Brooklyn.

She is the daughter of Mary and Jean Maxime Bourdeau.

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.

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 now has 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 was elected mayor of Saratoga Springs, Utah, in 2010, having previously served on its City Council.

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.

The district was created after the 2010 Census.

On December 15, 2011, six-term Democratic 2nd district incumbent Jim Matheson announced that he would seek the 4th congressional district seat as well.

She spoke at the 2012 Republican National Convention.

In 2012, she ran for Congress in Utah's 4th congressional district, losing narrowly to incumbent Democratic Party U.S. Representative Jim Matheson.

In 2012, Love ran for Congress in Utah's 4th congressional district.

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.

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.

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 in an upset to Democrat Ben McAdams by 694 votes, Love was hired by CNN as a political commentator in 2019.