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 Love, 39, is a Mormon mother of three who is upending stereotypes
about the state and its predominant faith. She locked up her party’s
nomination to vie for an open seat in Utah’s 4th District at a state
convention last month with an overwhelming 78 percent of the vote.
The seat became available when Jim Matheson retired after seven
terms in Congress as the heavily conservative state's lone Democrat
in Washington. Two years ago, the politically savvy son of a beloved
Utah governor beat Love by fewer than 800 votes.
If Love wins this time, she would become an unlikely champion in
Washington of staunchly conservative views - limited government,
fiscal discipline and state's rights. The daughter of Haitian
immigrants is pro-life, pro-gun and holds a concealed weapons
permit.
She also supports Utah's effort to reclaim public land from federal
agency controls, a hot issue in the U.S. West among conservatives,
and has said she would vote against regulations she believes would
restrict economic development.
“I love the story of David and Goliath, because in that story, David
runs toward Goliath. He ran toward a seemingly impossible
challenge,” Love said during a testy debate this week with her
opponent, Doug Owens, a Democrat and first-time candidate.
“That’s the type of confidence we need to have as we take on the
Goliaths of our debt, out-of-control spending, Obamacare and that
Godzilla we call the federal government,” she said.
In November, Love will face Owens in a conservative district created
after the 2010 Census that encompasses parts of Democratic-leaning
Salt Lake City, then runs south along the Wasatch Front into parts
of rural Utah that are typically Republican strongholds.
Her competitor, a 50-year-old attorney, is the son of former Utah
U.S. Representative Wayne Owens, also a Democrat.
WAR CHEST
Despite her 2012 loss, Love has never left the political scene. The
former mayor of Saratoga Springs has continued to speak at state and
local Republican and community events, and has been tapped as a
conservative commentator by numerous conservative national media
programs.
Federal Election Commission records show that, as of April 6, Love
had amassed a campaign war chest of more than $2 million. The 2012
Love-Matheson contest, with candidates chalking up more than $10
million in spending, was the most expensive House race in Utah’s
history.
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Her exposure and experience should put Love in a stronger position
than previously, said Chris Karpowitz, associate director of the
Center for the Study of Elections and Democracy at Brigham Young
University.
But Love, who was named one of the Republican party's “Young Guns”
to watch and given a speaking slot at the 2012 national convention,
appears to have toned down some of the Tea Party-style rhetoric, he
said.
“She is in a good position in the sense that she has run already, so
people know her name,” Karpowitz said. “And she seems to be running
a campaign that is a little more focused on the kind of voters that
Jim Matheson traditionally won.”
A spokeswoman for Love did not respond to questions about how the
2014 campaign would differ from her earlier run.
Owens, viewed as the underdog, told Reuters by email that he
believes voters have tired of partisan rancor and extreme
viewpoints.
“I will beat Mia Love the same way that Jim Matheson did,” said
Owens, a self-described pragmatist. “By focusing on the issues that
are important to Utahns and not on national partisan ideology.”
(Editing by Cynthia Johnston and Gunna Dickson)
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