Associated Press

Mia Love has made history, winning Utah's 4th District and becoming the first black female Republican elected to Congress.

Love, the former mayor of Saratoga Springs, Utah, was trailing in early returns Tuesday but edged ahead at about 11 p.m. She finished with 64,390 votes to 60,165 votes for Democrat Doug Owens, a Salt Lake City attorney and son of the late U.S. Rep. Wayne Owens of Utah.

Love and Owens were vying to replace longtime Democratic Rep. Jim Matheson.

Matheson, who opted not to run for another term, is the only Democrat in Utah's current congressional delegation. Love's victory means Utah will have no representation on the Democratic side of the aisle.

Love narrowly lost two years ago when she ran against Matheson.

Utah's three other Republican incumbent U.S. representatives — Rob Bishop, Jason Chaffetz and Chris Stewart — all scored comfortable victories over their Democratic challengers.

In the 4th District race, Owens tried to paint Love as a candidate with extreme views who won't work across the aisle. Love accused Owens of attacking her instead of the issues, and she vowed to push for more decisions to be allowed to be made at the local level instead of in Washington, D.C.

Republicans around the country backed Love, who amassed a big lead in campaign contributions. In addition to the millions she raised, outside groups poured about $155,000 into the race for Love's benefit.