No Love for Trump in Utah House race

Utah’s Mia Love made history in 2014 when she became the first black Republican woman elected to Congress. Now GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump is on an historic run of his own—and Love wants no part of it.

Love is running for reelection in a competitive race, and success may hinge on the distance she keeps from Trump. Despite being a strong conservative in a deep red state, Love’s House seat is one of many put at risk by the bombastic real estate mogul’s unpopularity.

“The big unknown here is Donald Trump,” said Chris Karpowitz, co-director of Brigham Young University’s Center for the Study of Elections and Democracy. “Trump has sucked up all the oxygen in the state and it remains to be seen how that will affect down-ballot candidates.”

The biggest worry isn’t that Love’s supporters will vote against her, but that widespread discontent over presidential options will keep voters at home, leaving the door open for an upset. Democratic challenger Doug Owens could pull it off if he successfully links Love to the top of the Republican ticket, Karpowitz said.

Early this year, pollsters declared Love’s race against Owens a “toss-up” even in a state where the Republican legislature carefully draws districts to elect GOP candidates.

Utah is not like the rest of the country—predominantly white and Mormon. Mormons are traditionally strong social conservatives and have serious reservations about Trump’s inconsistencies on abortion and same-sex marriage. Mormons also remember their persecuted past, and Trump’s comments about banning Muslims from entering the United States raises concern that one day he might turn on them.

In March, while Trump rolled through presidential primaries across the country, he got decimated in Utah—losing by more than 55 points.

Throughout the presidential primary season, Love has avoided Trump. First she endorsed Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., shifting support to Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, after Rubio dropped out in March.

As Trump drew closer to winning the Republican nomination, Love grew more silent. She even decided to skip the Republican National Convention, seeing no upside in associating herself with a candidate her state rejected.

Born to Haitian refugees and raised as a Roman Catholic in Connecticut, Love converted to Mormonism after college and moved to Utah. There she married her husband four months after their first date and entered a career in politics while raising three children. She won a seat on the Saratoga Springs City Council in 2003 and later served as its mayor. After the 2010 census granted Utah a fourth seat in the House of Representatives, Love ran for Congress in 2012, losing to Democrat Jim Matheson by 768 votes.

Two years later, Love and Owens squared off to replace Matheson when he retired. Owens was less effective at claiming voters in the margin and Love edged out a victory. In this year’s rematch, Owens will straddle the ideological line by using GOP talking points on the Second Amendment and Affordable Care Act to woo marginal voters.

For the most part over the last two years, Love has flown under the radar, a safe strategy for a rookie lawmaker. But playing it safe can also suggest ineffectiveness. Since taking office in January 2015, Love has only passed one bill out of committee, giving Owens plenty of firepower.

Karpowitz told me Utah voters are not thrilled with Love’s work, but she hasn’t done anything to anger them either. Some feared she would be too conservative to work with her colleagues, but so far that has not been the case. Love joined the Congressional Black Caucus as its only Republican member, a bipartisan move to associate with other minority lawmakers despite disagreeing with them ideologically.

Love stays on the periphery on most issues but not when it comes to protecting the unborn.

Last year, while the House debated pursuing a 20-week abortion ban, some Republicans had reservations, prompting Love to deliver an impromptu heartfelt message to her colleagues.

“I was actually sitting in my office, listening to the debate about this bill, and I started thinking of my three children,” she said. “I started thinking about the decisions that we have to make in order to protect them, and I am disappointed that there is even opposition to this piece of legislation. We have a moral obligation in this country to protect life.”

Love’s pro-life resolve helped earn her a spot on the House Select Panel on Infant Lives, a committee investigating possible connections between abortion providers and businesses selling aborted baby organs for profit.

Owens will try to downplay Love’s accomplishments, but GOP leaders aren’t going to lose one of their few minority members without a fight.

House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., traveled to Utah in February to campaign for Love, and later attended an event in Washington, D.C., to rally support.

“Mia Love is one of the bright young conservatives serving in the House of Representatives, and I am proud to support her re-election this November,” he said. “I’m determined to do everything I can to help her.”