SCOTT DETROW, HOST:
The political assassination yesterday of Minnesota lawmaker Melissa Hortman was a shock to the people in the state and around the country, and a manhunt is ongoing for her killer. This was another moment that led to broader questions about rising political violence in the United States. And in the meantime, a community is grieving. Clay Masters of Minnesota Public Radio has this remembrance of Melissa Hortman.
CLAY MASTERS: It took a couple of tries for Melissa Hortman to get elected to the Minnesota legislature. But in 2004, the attorney won a seat in the state House, defeating a Republican by two percentage points. She would go on to serve as minority leader before being elected speaker in 2019. NPR News asked her then what being a woman brings to the job. The question could kind of irritate her.
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MELISSA HORTMAN: It's really about the job. And we don't ask that when a man - like, hey, Kurt Daudt, are you going to be just like other men?
MASTERS: Hortman was referencing a former male speaker of the House. Here she is accepting the speaker's gavel in 2019.
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UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: And that you will faithfully discharge the duties of the office to which you have just been elected to the best of your ability, so help you God.
HORTMAN: I do.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: Congratulations.
HORTMAN: Thank you so much.
(APPLAUSE)
MASTERS: In her acceptance speech, she talked about focusing on the conflicts ahead.
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HORTMAN: We are not here to avoid conflict. We are here precisely to have conflict. It's an important part of the democratic process. But if we can have that conflict with good humor and humility, we'll be better off, and Minnesota will be better off.
MASTERS: In two decades in elected office, Hortman positioned herself as a consensus builder, willing to work with both political parties. But she was also responsible for ushering in key Democratic initiatives when her party controlled the House, Senate and governor's office in 2023. She was instrumental in passing abortion rights, universal free lunch for students and gun restrictions. Former Republican Representative Pat Garofalo was part of the same freshman class.
PAT GAROFALO: Melissa Hortman has gone down as the most consequential and impactful speaker of the House in Minnesota history over the last 160 years. That's the politics of it. The personal side is it's really important that people understand that this was a really good person.
MASTERS: Last year, Minnesota voters elected an evenly divided House. Part of the power-sharing agreement included Hortman conceding the speakership to Republicans. Lawmakers blew past their adjournment deadline, and leaders met for weeks to hammer out a budget deal. After a one-day special session on Monday, Governor Tim Walz took a moment to single Hortman out for her role as a leader.
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TIM WALZ: Speaker Emerita Hortman is amongst the very finest. Her pragmatic ability, her deep knowledge of how the process works and her willingness to be pragmatic and find deals where it doesn't appear like there was helped get this done.
MASTERS: Hortman would be the only Democrat in the House to vote for a measure that removed health care for undocumented adults in the state. The decision was part of a compromise to get a final deal. In what would be her last press conference outside the Minnesota House last week, Hortman was visibly upset.
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HORTMAN: So I'm fine. What I worry about is the people who will lose their health insurance. I know that people will be hurt by that vote, and I'm (crying) - we worked very hard to try to get a budget deal that wouldn't include that provision. And we tried any other way we could to come to a budget agreement with Republicans, and they wouldn't have it.
MASTERS: She said she did what leaders do - stepped up and got the job done for Minnesota. Hortman was 55 years old. Her husband, Mark, was also shot and killed in their home. They are survived by two children. For NPR News, I'm Clay Masters in St. Paul.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC) Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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