Democratic speaker, legislator, and public servant Melissa Hortman’s murder on June 14, 2025—at the hands of a political assassin—shook Minnesotans to their core.

Just hours after the news broke, tens of thousands of people went ahead with a planned march to the Capitol in Saint Paul, protesting what they see as growing authoritarianism in U.S. national politics. That day, the violence tied to partisan politics came uncomfortably close to home. Minnesotan Democrats have drawn national ire before, but Hortman—a local public servant known for her values of equity and bridge-building—seemed an unlikely target.

Tributes have been pouring in for Hortman, who led a House evenly divided between Republicans and Democrats, earning respect across party lines. She is remembered as a principled leader, deeply committed to the people of Minnesota, and someone who helped make the state a national leader on innovative climate policy.

As chair of the House Energy Policy Committee in 2013, Hortman authored a bill that established the state’s solar standard and launched the country’s first community solar programs. Later, as speaker, Hortman’s expanded role gave her influence over the legislative process, committee assignments, and floor business—enabling her to guide the passage of wide-ranging climate and energy policies.

In 2023, with Democrats controlling the legislature and governor’s office, and Hortman serving as speaker, Minnesotan lawmakers passed 78 energy and environmental policy provisions. The most ambitious of them set a target for 100% carbon-free electricity by 2040. The legislation also encouraged public utilities to build new clean energy projects in communities where fossil fuel power plants were being retired. It funded a solar program for schools, electric school bus grants, an electric vehicle rebate program, community solar gardens, and set aside US$500,000 to study the potential for Minnesota’s iron resources to be used in battery storage.

The seeds of Hortman’s climate leadership may have been planted at the 2015 United Nations climate talks in Paris, which she attended as part of the University of Minnesota delegation, Nicole Rom, former executive director of advocacy group Climate Generation, told Canary Media.

“Clean energy was her first love,” said Fresh Energy executive director Michael Noble, who worked with Hortman for decades. “She really mastered the details and dug deep into climate and clean energy.”

Minnesotans take pride in being unique in the U.S. They make up just 1.7% of the country’s population, living in a region rich in natural resources—with more than 14,000 freshwater lakes, vast forests and wildlife, and deposits of iron ore and taconite. Minnesotans stand out politically, too. Hortman’s party, the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party, has been more ambitious on environmental and climate issues than most other states.

And progressives in Minnesota have enjoyed a sense of insulation from divisive rhetoric and political violence—that for them—remained confined to the evening news. That is, until Hortman’s death, alongside her husband Mark. The alleged gunman, Vance Boelter, is also charged with attempted murder for shooting Democratic Minnesota state Senator John Hoffman and his wife Yvette, and he visited the homes of two other Minnesota lawmakers that night.

Like Senator Paul Wellstone—the beloved Minnesotan who helped defeat a bill to allow drilling in the Arctic and died tragically in a 2002 plane crash at age 58—Hortman’s work was cut short.

Governor Tim Walz recalled that in his first negotiating session with her, Hortman handed out copies of Getting to Yes, a classic negotiation book that emphasizes identifying shared interests to resolve conflict—compromises that serve everyone. Her absence will be felt in U.S. politics, as will her commitment to protect Minnesota’s environment and communities.

Hortman, Mark, and their dog will lie in state at the Capitol Friday. Their children issued a touching tribute to their parents, encouraging others to “plant a tree” or “do something,” big or small, to make their community just a little better for someone else.