Newly Elected Black US Representative Mia Love: "Race or Gender Had Nothing to Do" with My Victory

Aimee Herd : Nov 6, 2014
YouTube/CNN

"Utahans... want to make sure that they are electing people who are honest and who have integrity. That's really what made history here. It's that Race, gender, had nothing to do with it, principles had everything to do with it." -Mia Love

(Utah)—In a recent post-election interview with US Representative-elect Mia Love from Utah, CNN news hosts John Berman and Michaela Pereira noted the historical factor of her victory—first black female Republican elected to Congress—suggesting that Ms. Love's ethnicity might have been behind her success. (Photo via YouTube)

Rep-elect Love quickly countered that notion, saying, "This has nothing do with race. Understand that Utahans have made a statement that they're not interested in dividing Americans based on race or gender; they want to make sure that they are electing people who are honest and who have integrity. That's really what made history here. It's that race, gender, had nothing to do with it, principles had everything to do with it."

Co-host Pereira pressed the matter, remarking that everyone should have a "fair shot at getting a seat at the table."

Love pointed out that "there are very few black residents" in Saratoga Springs, and firmly reiterated that her election did not come about because of the "color of my skin, I wasn't elected because of my gender," she said.

Love added, "I was elected because of the solutions that I put at the table because I promised I would run a positive issues-oriented campaign and that's what resonated."