a day ago
What to know about the Democratic lawmakers shot in Minnesota
Minnesota state Rep. Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark, were fatally shot at their home in Brooklyn Park, near Minneapolis, in the predawn hours Saturday. Hortman was a Democratic leader and served as the speaker of the state House of Representatives until early this year.
The attacker also targeted Minnesota state Sen. John Hoffman (D) and his wife, Yvette, early Saturday. The two sustained multiple bullet wounds and are in stable condition, according to authorities.
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D) condemned the bloodshed as an 'act of targeted political violence.' President Donald Trump and leaders from both parties denounced the violence as Minnesota's entire congressional delegation issued a joint statement calling the shootings an attack on public servants.
Hortman, 55, was a lawyer and Democrat who spent 20 years in the Minnesota House of Representatives, which she led as speaker for six years, a tenure that ended in January.
Hortman got her start in politics working for Al Gore and John F. Kerry. She was first elected to the chamber in 2004, when she defeated incumbent Stephanie Olsen (R).
Hortman rose up quickly through the ranks of the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party, known as the DFL Party, serving as assistant majority leader, minority whip, speaker pro tempore, deputy minority leader and minority leader. She became speaker of the house in 2019, after Democrats took control of the chamber.
During her tenure, Hortman advanced several liberal priorities, including legislation that provided universal free school lunches and codified abortion into the state's constitution. In 2020, she backed efforts to pass police reform legislation after the killing of George Floyd and the ensuing unrest.
In tributes, colleagues remembered her as deeply committed to education, environment and reproductive rights.
'She was a formidable public servant, a fixture and a giant in Minnesota,' Walz said.
Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simon, who attended law school with Hortman, described her as 'a bright shining light of a person.'
Gore said in a tweet that Hortman left 'a lasting impact' on his team during her time working with him in the U.S. Senate.
She held a bachelor's degree from Boston University, a law degree from the University of Minnesota and a master's in public administration from the Harvard Kennedy School.
Her husband, Mark Hortman, worked as a program manager for nvent Electric, an electric manufacturing company, according to his LinkedIn and social media profiles. They leave behind two children.
Hoffman, whose district includes Brooklyn Park and Champlin, was first elected to the state Senate in 2012. He served as minority whip from 2017 until 2021.
He is chair of the Senate Human Services Committee, which oversees one of the largest parts of the state budget. Hoffman has backed legislation that extended the state's health-care program to undocumented immigrants, according to the Associated Press.
Before being elected to the state legislature, Hoffman served on the Anoka-Hennepin School Board. He ran for state office after he struggled to obtain insurance for a daughter with spina bifida, and he figured others had the same difficulty, the Minneapolis Star Tribune reported. He is a former chair of the Governor's Developmental Disabilities Council.
Mat Ollig, a nephew of the couple, said in a Facebook post that Hoffman went into politics 'to help people with disabilities get the care they need,' adding that he worked across the aisle 'to push bills that would help Minnesotans.'
Ollig wrote that the Hoffmans were both out of surgery and recovering after John Hoffman was shot six times and his wife, Yvette, was shot five times. He also said their daughter, Hope, was present during the attack. 'My aunt threw herself on her daughter, using her body as a shield to save her life,' he wrote.
