SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Mia Love, of Utah, became the first black female Republican in Congress on Tuesday as she was sworn in along with 57 other freshmen members of the U.S. House.
Love, the 39-year-old former mayor of Saratoga Springs, was elected in November in Utah’s 4th District.
She has already started making appearances on cable news channels and Sunday talk shows, most recently as a guest on ABC’s “This Week.”
Love didn’t emphasize her race during her campaign in 2014 and an unsuccessful bid in 2012, but she acknowledged the significance of her election after her victory in November.
Love said her win defied naysayers who suggested a black, Republican, Mormon woman from Utah could not be elected to Congress.
Love has joined the Congressional Black Caucus and is part of a small group of black Republicans in the new Congress.
In addition to being sworn in Tuesday with other new House members, Love will have an individual ceremonial swearing-in with House Speaker John Boehner later Tuesday afternoon.
