Former U.S. congresswoman Mia Love, a political trailblazer who became the first Black Republican woman in Congress, died Sunday at age 49.

Mia Love, the first Republican Black woman elected to the United States Congress, is dead at 49. The former Utah U.S. representative’s family confirmed her death in a public statement. Love suffered from a years-long battle with glioblastoma brain cancer.

"With grateful hearts filled to overflowing for the profound influence of Mia on our lives, we want you to know that she passed away peacefully today," the family wrote. Love was born Ludmya Bourdeau to Haitian immigrants on Dec.