Mia Love book excerpts: From immigrant family to GOP star in Congress

Utah’s Mia Love was a trailblazer.

A child of Haitian immigrants, Love was a Saratoga Springs City Council member, mayor and then the first Black Republican woman elected to Congress. She died Sunday after a three-year battle with brain cancer at age 49.

When Love was first elected to Congress in November 2014, Salt Lake Tribune reporters Matt Canham, Robert Gehrke and Thomas Burr quickly published a book, “Mia Love: The Rise, Stumble and Resurgence of the Next GOP Star.”

The book tells the story of Love’s family immigrating to the U.S., her conversion to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and her historic rise in politics.

Seven excerpts from the book were also published in The Tribune and are available below.

Part 1: Mia Love’s next challenge: A gridlocked Congress

U.S. Rep.-elect Mia Love’s optimism and her promises to reduce the size and power of the federal government will collide with what is arguably the most partisan, gridlocked Congress in modern times.

Part 2: Becoming American: The story of Mia Love’s Haitian parents

Opponents used ambiguity around her family’s story to accuse Love of being “an anchor baby,” a derisive and debasing term. Love dismissed talk of her parents’ legal status as irrelevant: The United States government granted them citizenship, the trump card to end the conversation.

Part 3: Mia Love: Searching for stardom; a Latter-day Saint conversion

Love wanted to be an actor, a singer and a dancer. She turned to Broadway and then Utah, where she joined The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.