A couple weeks ago, my wingnut "friends" on FB were crowing about Mia Love (a black Mormon)

[CatWoman]

SALT LAKE CITY — Republicans threw everything they had at Democratic Rep. Jim Matheson, but like the Road Runner, he dodged the big red anvil barreling down on his head.

An articulate, charismatic candidate. A gerrymandered congressional district. National GOP backing. Millions of dollars. Big-name endorsements. Mitt Romney.

Rising Republican star Mia Love had an arsenal never afforded a Utah candidate before. But the iron block hit the ground with a thud as it usually does when Wile E. Coyote tries to take out his elusive nemesis.

And after the dust settled late Tuesday, Matheson was on his way to a seventh term in Washington now representing Utah's new 4th Congressional District.

"This race seemed like a perfect storm against him, and he still prevailed," said Kirk Jowers, director of the Hinckley Institute of Politics at the University of Utah. "It's hard to see another circumstance where they can take him out without a major mistake, and he hasn't made one so far."

http://www.deseretnews.com/article/865566259/Jim-Matheson-dodges-GOP-machine-in-win-over-Mia-Love.html

[Lucinda]

1. Thank you! I'd seen the name, but I didn't know who she was.

[Drunken Irishman]

2. Everyone here was convinced she'd win.

The polls showed her winning by 10 or so points. I still don't know how Matheson won.

[gravity]

3. Bradley effect

[Drunken Irishman]

4. That wouldn't surprise me...

[Zambero]

6. Many LDS remain hesitant to embrace blacks

into their religion or their politics, church membership notwithstanding. They may not have voted for Matheson, and instead abstained in large numbers.

[SoapLovah]

5. Mason-Dixon showed her with that big lead. Their polling was awful this cycle.