‘You belong in the room’: Late Rep. Mia Love honored with Martha Hughes Cannon award

SALT LAKE CITY — The late Utah Rep. Mia Love was honored Monday with the first ever Martha Hughes Cannon Legacy Award, highlighting her trailblazing career as the first Black Republican woman elected to Congress.

Lt. Gov. Deidre Henderson, a close personal friend of Love’s since she first became mayor of Saratoga Springs in 2010, presented the award at the state Capitol. She recalled first meeting over the phone during Love’s mayoral campaign, when the candidate reached out to Henderson for advice.

“We’ve been very good friends ever since,” the lieutenant governor said. “We went through a lot together: wins and losses — both of us — ups and downs, sickness and health. And I learned a lot from my good friend. One of the things that I learned from Mia is that public service is not about you. Public service is about what you can do to help other people fulfill their opportunities.”

Love was diagnosed with glioblastoma multiforme brain cancer in March of 2022 and died in March at the age of 49. She served two terms in Congress from 2015 to 2019.

Love is the first recipient of the Legacy Award, given by the Utah Women Run, a nonprofit that offers training for female candidates for public office at all levels. The organization has honored other Utah women for three straight years with Martha Hughes Cannon Awards, named for the former state senator who was the first female senator elected in the United States in 1896.

Henderson compared Love to Cannon not just as a trailblazer in politics, but as someone who “worked to lift others as they climbed.”

“I learned from Mia that friendship is important,” she said. “Sometimes we’re the only women in the room. Those of us who happen to be in public service find ourselves sitting at tables filled with men. We’re sitting in rooms filled with men. And Mia taught me that I belong in the room. You belong in the room. We deserve a place at the table, and Mia was not about to let anyone tell her that she didn’t belong.”

Jason Love, Mia’s husband, accepted the award on behalf of his wife. Standing in front of a backdrop emblazoned with the Utah Women Run logo, he read each word and said: “These are things Mia loved.”

“She was so honored to serve the people of Utah for so many years at the city level and federal level,” he said. “She also loved to run. … (She) went out in the street in winter still and jogged, but she also loved to campaign. She loved the energy and … the excitement from the campaign season, but she was also very proud of her womanhood, and she considered it a strength.”

He said many Saratoga Springs residents still remember Love knocking on their doors during campaign season with her small children in tow.

“Knocking on doors, shaking hands, building relationships was such a critical part of her being able to gain voters and learn about the city issues,” he said. “And her motherhood, her womanhood, gave her the ability to be there in the city and also take our children with her and teach them to be an example.”

Utah Women Run also honored five other Utah women for their contributions in politics.

Utah House Majority Whip Candice Pierucci, R-Riverton, and House Minority Leader Angela Romero, D-Salt Lake City, were recognized for their impacts in their respective parties. Former Salt Lake City School Board member Kristi Swett was recognized for her work in local government, State School Board member LeAnn Wood was honored for her work in policy and advocacy and Logan Mayor Holly Daines received the organization’s Lifetime Achievement Award.

Related: ‘A voice for the ages’: Family, friends celebrate former Rep. Mia Love’s legacy