Mia Love, current mayor of Saratoga Springs and the Republican candidate for Utah’s new fourth Congressional seat, has gotten a lot of attention this week after a speech at the Republican National Convention in Tampa, Fla. on Tuesday night.
However, Josh Kanter, founder of Alliance for a Better UTAH, a nonprofit organization that educates Utah voters on key issues, said not all Utahns are “feeling the ‘Love.’ ”
Kanter’s sentiment came in response to Love’s plan to eliminate all federal funding for student loans, including Pell Grants, education grants, work study and Stafford student loans.
Better UTAH has launched a “No Love” campaign largely using social media, hoping to draw voters’ attention to Love’s minimalist position on student funding. The campaign launched with a video explaining her position on student loans and is set to expand to other issues, including her stated goals of cutting the earned income tax credit, food stamps and subsidized school lunches.
“We feel it is important to make sure Utahns understand what is at stake in various elections,” Kanter said.
Although an exact number cannot be pinpointed, Kanter said he predicts most college students in Utah would be affected by Love’s plans.
“There are 214,000 college students in Utah and a little more than three-fourths of them rely solely or partially on federal student aid,” he said.
Rep. Jim Matheson, a Democrat who represents Utah’s second district and will oppose Love in the new district this November, commented on Love’s stance at a forum at the Hinckley Institute of Politics on Thursday.
“We don’t want to have some policy where we will pull the rug out from under 75 percent of college students,” Matheson said. “That is going in the wrong direction.”
Love’s campaign did not return calls or emails for a direct comment.
Kanter also said Love used the same student loans that she plans to eliminate to support herself through college in Connecticut…
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