By Kanishka Singh
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Melissa Hortman – the senior Democratic state assemblywoman and former assembly speaker in Minnesota who was fatally shot along with her husband on Saturday – was remembered by Governor Tim Walz as someone with “grace, compassion, and tirelessness.”
The lawmaker and her husband, Mark Hortman, were killed by a suspected gunman posing as a police officer in an apparent “politically motivated assassination,” according to Walz.
They were married for 31 years and had two children.
The lawmaker was elected to the Minnesota Legislature in 2004, according to the Minnesota House of Representatives website. Among issues she focused on were environmental causes, racial equality, reproductive rights and stricter gun control.
Advocacy groups pointed to her support for police reforms after the 2020 murder of George Floyd, a Black man who died after a Minneapolis police officer knelt on his neck for several minutes. She helped advance a legislation that banned police choke holds.
Former U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris described Hortman as an “outstanding public servant.” Harris added: “She passed legislation that enshrined freedoms and increased opportunity for the people of Minnesota. I saw her impact firsthand when I was with her in Minnesota.”
Hortman held a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science and philosophy from Boston University and a Master’s of Public Administration from the Harvard Kennedy School.
She also worked as an intern for former U.S. Senator Al Gore and as a legislative correspondent for former U.S. Senator John Kerry, according to local media.
“A formidable public servant and a fixture of the state Capitol, Melissa Hortman woke up every day determined to make our state a better place. She served the people of Minnesota with grace, compassion, and tirelessness,” Walz said.
Hortman, 55, represented Minnesota House District 34B. Outside politics, she worked as a private attorney and volunteered at the local school board and Sunday school at Saint Timothy Catholic Church in Blaine, according to ABC News.
The Minnesota House of Representatives Democratic-Farmer-Labor (DFL) Caucus said Hortman “talked a lot about following the Golden Rule, and the value that ‘to whom much is given, much is expected.’ She felt she had the ability and the obligation to serve others.”
Minnesota state Senator John Hoffman and his wife were also shot multiple times in their home on Saturday but Walz said he was “cautiously optimistic” that they would survive “this assassination attempt” as they underwent surgery.
Hortman and her husband were shot dead in their home in the Minneapolis suburb of Brooklyn Park. Law enforcement officials said the gunman attacked the Hoffmans at around 2 a.m. CDT (0700 GMT) and then drove about five miles to the Hortmans’ residence.
(Reporting by Kanishka Singh in WashingtonEditing by Nick Zieminski)
