First Black GOP Congresswoman Passes on at 49: Mia Love's 'Fervent Prayer for You and for This Nation'

Former U.S. Rep. Mia Love of Utah, who became the first Black Republican woman elected to Congress, died Sunday after losing her battle against brain cancer.

She was 49. 

Love's family posted the news of her death to her X account Sunday night. 

Love Family: 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. In the midst of a celebration of her life and an avalanche of happy… pic.twitter.com/YzhAuH1l9x

— Mia Love (@MiaBLove) March 24, 2025

"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," her family posted. "She was in her home surrounded by family. 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 young Republican had undergone recent treatment for brain cancer and received immunotherapy as part of a clinical trial at Duke University's brain tumor center. But then her daughter revealed that her mother was no longer responding to the treatment. 

Love was the daughter of Haitian immigrants and began her career in politics in 2003 after winning a seat on the city council in Saratoga Springs, a small community 30 miles from Salt Lake City. She later became the city's mayor. 

In 2014, she became the first black GOP Congresswoman after beating opponent Doug Owens by about 7,500 votes.

Although Love did not emphasize her ethnicity or race during her campaign, she pointed out how her victory held great significance because she was a Black, Republican, Mormon woman, AP reports. 

Love lost her seat in 2018 to Democrat Ben McAdams, a former Salt Lake County mayor. After her loss, Love served as a political commentator on CNN and as a fellow at the University of Sydney.

In a final op-ed published recently, Love penned a letter reflecting on the "goodness and greatness of our country."

"My dear friends, fellow Americans and Utahns," Love wrote. "I am taking up my pen, not to say goodbye but to say thank you and express my living wish for you and the America I know."

She shared how she watched her parents, who came to this country with only $10 in their pocket, work and pave the road for her success. 

"The America I came to know growing up was filled with all the excitement found in living the American dream," Love recounted. "I was taught to love this country, warts and all, and understand I had a role to play in our nation's future. I learned to passionately believe in the possibilities and promise of America."

In her letter, Love shared her wish for neighbors to come together and focus on their similarities rather than their differences.

"You see, the America I know is built by citizens and leaders who respect, strengthen, and serve each other, not based on race, gender, or economic status but because we are Americans! We all have a role to play in uniting the country around the principles that have made us extraordinary," she wrote. 

"The America I know will continue as long as each of us simply remember that this country is exceptional—because it is! I know it is! I can see on the horizon that our best and brightest days as a nation are still to come," Love continued.

She closed out her last "living wish" asking for America's legacy to be revived. 

"As my season of life begins to draw to a close, I still passionately believe that we can revive the American story we know and love. I am convinced that our citizens must remember the principles of our story so that our children, and those seeking freedom around the world, will know where to look to find a place for their story," she wrote. 

"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 and that each citizen, and every leader, will do their part to ensure that the America we know will be the America our grandchildren and great-grandchildren will inherit," Love added. 

***Please sign up for CBN Newsletters and download the CBN News app to ensure you keep receiving the latest news from a distinctly Christian perspective.***