The Root 100 honoree and Saratoga Springs, Utah, Mayor Mia Love, who was running to represent Utah as the first African-American Republican woman in Congress, lost her race last night by fewer than 3,000 votes, the Hill reports.
Rep. Jim Matheson (D-Utah) has held on for victory against Saratoga Springs Mayor Mia Love (R), meaning the Democrat in the most Republican district in the country will return to Congress …
Love, an African-American Mormon, was a top Republican recruit and gave a well-received speech at the Republican National Convention in August. But Matheson, a biennial target, managed to pull off yet another narrow victory.
Love, who was widely characterized as a "rising star" in her party and highlighted as an indication of GOP race and gender diversity, resisted a comparison of her potential political "first" to that of President Barack Obama, saying last night, before the results were in, "You know, I'm just worried about getting our country back on track … If I can do that and we can get our country back on track, that's the history I'm interested in making."
Read more at the Hill.