Mia Love will spend time campaigning in Utah and traveling to Israel instead of going to the convention. Mia Love to skip Republican convention

Utah Rep. Mia Love, a young and rising star in the Republican Party, will skip next month’s Republican National Convention in Cleveland, saying she doesn’t see benefits in attending.

“I don’t see any upsides to it,” Love said, according to the Salt Lake Tribune. “I don’t see how this benefits the state.”


The first-term congresswoman said that “not blindly following” the party’s presumptive nominee, Donald Trump, is her way of representing her congressional district well.

Love — who supported Florida Sen. Marco Rubio in the Republican primaries — has not indicated whether or not she would vote for Trump in November.

The Tribune also reported that Love will spend the week of the convention both campaigning in her district and participating in a congressional trip to Israel.

In addition to Love, former presidents George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush, and 2012 Republican nominee Mitt Romney, among other former and current Republican officeholders, will not be attending next month's convention.