Melissa & Mark Hortman
On June 14, 2025, Melissa and Mark Hortman were gunned down in their Brooklyn Park home in what authorities described as a targeted, politically motivated assassination. Their dog Gilbert was mortally wounded. State Senator John Hoffman and his wife, Yvette, were also shot that morning and survived.
Melissa and Mark were a team. Although Melissa’s public service was highly visible, Mark provided much of the love, stability, humor, and practical support that helped make her accomplishments possible. He was her proudest supporter—from her early electoral defeats through her years as Speaker of the Minnesota House of Representatives. Friends described Mark as completely secure in her success: never jealous or intimidated, always ready to accompany her to political events or to welcome her home.
Hortman possessed remarkable credentials for public service. She graduated magna cum laude from Boston University with degrees in political science and philosophy, earned her law degree cum laude from the University of Minnesota, and later received a master’s in public administration from Harvard’s Kennedy School.
After unsuccessful campaigns in 1998 and 2002, she won election to the Minnesota House in 2004. Those defeats demonstrated the persistence evident throughout her career. Once elected, she rose methodically through House leadership, serving as Speaker from 2019 until January 2025.
In an era of gridlock, Hortman knew how to make things happen. Her record included renewable-energy policy, free school meals, paid family and medical leave, abortion protections, stronger gun laws, housing investments, voting protections, worker protections, education funding, and police reforms. Intelligent, disciplined, prepared, and funny, she maintained relationships across party lines and became one of Minnesota’s most consequential speakers.
Hortman’s character was especially visible in June 2025. As leader in a divided government, she cast the sole DFL vote for a painful compromise that ended MinnesotaCare eligibility for undocumented adults. She opposed the policy but accepted responsibility for the agreement rather than forcing a vulnerable colleague to cast the deciding vote. That choice embodied her understanding of leadership: accepting personal and political consequences to make governing possible.
Melissa defended democracy by practicing it—governing, negotiating, compromising, and accepting responsibility. She and Mark ultimately lost their lives because public service made Melissa a target of political violence. Their answer to hatred, expressed through their children, was not vengeance but service, kindness, and hope - in service to the people and state they loved.
"In politics, often the easiest thing for anyone to do is run to a microphone, sharpen their dagger, and see who has the best press conference. But what's excruciatingly difficult in all this high emotion is to get people to the table and to slog through the work that has to happen."
MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA – SEPTEMBER 19, 2019