Mia Love, First Black Republican Woman Elected to Congress Declares, 'I Wasn't Elected Because of The Color of My Skin'
Mia Love, 38, a daughter of Haitian-American parents who became the first black Republican woman ever elected to the U.S. Congress, celebrated and pushed back at critics who focused on the color of her skin.
At a Republican Tuesday night election party in her 4th congressional district in Utah, Love wrestled with tears as party officials told her that she had won a seat in Congress in a state that is 91 percent white, according to the Associated Press. And in her acceptance speech, highlighted in a YouTube video, she acknowledged the moment in her victory speech.
"This is a great night for our nation. And I have to tell you, it is especially a great night for Utah. Many of the naysayers out there said that Utah would never elect a black, Republican, LDS woman to Congress," she said to cheers.
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"And guess what? Not only did we do it, we were the first to do it. So let this be a lesson to America, that we are not interested in dividing the nation based on gender, race, social status. We are more interested in the integrity and the honesty of a candidate. Someone who is going to return power back to the people and away from Washington," she said.
During an interview with CNN on Wednesday, however, Love was forced to keep the focus away from her skin when she was asked to discuss the significance of her race in being elected.
"Well, first of all, I think what we need to mention here is that this had nothing to do with race. Understand that Utahns have made a statement that they are not interested in dividing Americans based on race or gender," said Love.
"They want to make sure that they are electing people who are honest and who have integrity. Who can make sure that we go out and represent the values that they hold dear and that's what really made history here," she continued.
"It's that race, gender had nothing to do with it. Principles had everything to do with it and Utah values had everything to do with it and so that's the history that we made here," she said firmly.
Prodded further to discuss the significance of her race in the elections, Love responded: "You have to understand. Saratoga Spring, there are very few black residents there. I wasn't elected because of the color of my skin. I wasn't elected because of my gender."
"I was elected because of the solutions that I put at the table. Because I promised I would run a positive issues oriented campaign and that's exactly what resonated. Utah is tired of the bickering, they're tired of Congress not getting anything done," she said.
Love, love this pic of @MiaBLove & her father as her victory became apparent. *This* is what tonight looks like! pic.twitter.com/mt0MOoU4v3
— Tammy Bruce (@HeyTammyBruce) November 5, 2014"I hear a lot of talk right now about Congress not wanting to work with the president, not wanting to work with Congress and few people are talking about working with the American people. The House of Representatives is the branch of government that is closest to the people and that's who I am. I am a person of the people so my job is to make sure I am representing them in every turn," she declared.
Asked to discuss areas she plans to work on with Democrats to get work done she said: "You know, one of the things I think we need to talk about is balance ... Washington's gotten too big and the people have gotten too small so we've gotta start rolling up our sleeves and making sure that we bring balance back to government. People should be able to make decisions in their home, in their communities and in the areas that they live in and we are going to do everything we can to restore power back to the people."
