Didn't she run against a white and delightsome, male, Mormon candidate? That might explain some of it.
Well, per the longstanding Mormon narrative...whites, blacks, Native Americans, etc...were all "pre-existent spirits" on a planet near the star Kolob...
The Mormon jesus offered one plan of salvation for humankind; his just younger bro, the Mormon lucifer, offered another.
Lucifer got upset that the Mormon god declined his offer; and 1/3rd of these spirits supposedly rebelled along with Lucifer...
1/3rd remained faithful...
And the other 1/3rd? They supposedly were "neutral" -- less "valiant" ... and the Mormon 'god' then cursed them with darker skin...which the Book of Mormon promises to eventually become "white and delightsome" upon accepting the Mormon gospel and priesthood...
So Mia Love had her work cut out for her from the jumpstart vs. Mormon voters!!!
If you want to see one of the key theological traces of why Mormons sought to ban blacks from so many aspects of their faith, just do a Google search on the word "valiant" (and add the LDS acronym).
Even a year after the supposed doctrinal "change" (1979...the so-called "change" took place in 1978), we find this interesting paragraph in the back of the Mormon-published Bible (source LDS Bible Dictionary, p. 788 in back of Holy Bible published by Lds church, 1979):
"Although one-third of the spirits became devils, the remaining two-thirds were not all equally valiant, there being every degree of devotion to Christ and the Father among them. The most diligent were chosen to be rulers in the kingdom (Abr. 3:22-23). The nature of the conflict, however, is such that there could be no neutrals, then or now (Matt. 12:30; 1 Ne. 14:10; Alma 5:38-40)."
And that's where you get the 1/3rd, 1/3rd, 1/3rd Mormon division: * 1/3rd became demonic spirits; * Of the remaining 2/3rds, the most faithful spirits became "good Mormons" on earth...some also then went on to become angels after being people who lived on earth; * The other group were so-called "neutrals"...And the Mormon narrative went -- that God cursed these neutral spirits with black skin for their lack of pre-existent "valor"
So, not only was all this above used to unfairly and prejudicially categorize an entire race of people, but it also actually became a base for prideful elitism among Lds general authorities. Why, they concluded, by very virtue of their leadership, they proclaimed how "valiant" their spirits must have been in the premortal life!
Pride fosters and feeds upon more pride!
Pride and Prejudice can sum up the entire foundation of the Mormon religion!
I'm certain that if the effin' third party guy wasn't in the race, Mia would have won. Shame... Mia would've become an instant GOP star. Hope she runs again...