This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2016, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
U.S. Rep. Mia Love hasn't said whether she'll vote for her party's presidential candidate, Donald Trump, this November, and hasn't even committed to going to the Republican National Convention just yet.
In one interview, she went so far as to say: "I am not Donald Trump. And Donald Trump is not Utah."
And yet, is it possible that Love, R-Utah, will become Trump's running mate? The Washington Post believes there's a chance. The newspaper included Love on a short list of potential Trump vice presidential nominees.
Love fits a few boxes that Trump may want to check. She's a woman, a minority (the first black Republican woman elected to Congress) and she's an elected official.
The first-term congresswoman dismisses the suggestion.
"I haven't had any contact with the Trump campaign and am not interested in being VP," Love said Thursday. "I want my neighbors in Utah's 4th District to know that Utah is my priority, not the ever-changing tide of presidential politics. It's gratifying for Utah to be included on this list, but I'm laser-focused on making a difference on important issues in Congress for the people I serve."
While there's no indication of a warming relationship between Team Trump and the Love camp, she did use her Facebook page to show how aggressive she plans to be in criticizing presumptive Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton.
"A female president would certainly be historic, but Hillary Clinton would be a historic disaster. Shattering the glass ceiling with her shrill rhetoric along with the blunt force of her divisive and dishonest political machine is more of a breakdown than a breakthrough. Her promises to continue the same failed policies of President Obama, which have sadly hurt women and minorities the most, should not be viewed as enlightened vision or real leadership. We have seen the pattern of dishonesty, deception and division in her failed leadership in Benghazi, her business dealings and her email scandal (all fact). More than a breakthrough our country needs a break-up with the failed policies and failed leadership Hillary Clinton is offering."
The Post short list mentions 35 people, including nine Republicans Trump beat to get the GOP nod, such as retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie.
It also includes some unexpected choices such as New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez, whom Trump slammed on a recent visit to her state, and his own daughter Ivanka Trump.
The candidate, a real-estate mogul running a highly unconventional campaign, said recently that he has narrowed his search to about five people.