Minneapolis (AP) – The tallest Democrat of the Minnesota Palace helped graze a package of liberal initiatives when its party had a narrow majority two years ago. After the Democrats lost the majority, it helped the broker agree that the government’s government was funded and gave a decisive vote to maintain it, even though its party hated it.
Melissa Hortman, a 55 -year -old state spokeswoman, a Democratic leader and former chairman of the palace, was shot early Saturday at the home of his Minneapolis region, along with a man who was adopted as a law enforcement officer. Another famous territory legislator, the state’s old John Hoffman, was shot and injured with his wife, in their home in about 15 minutes, when Governor Tim Walz described “targeted political violence”.
The shooting has shocked the officers of both parties in a state, which is proud of its politics as “Minnesota Beautiful”, despite the higher partisan tension in recent years. Although since 1972 Minnesota did not vote for the GOP candidate for president, and all its state elected officers are democrats, the legislature is almost evenly divided, and the house is divided 67-67 until the death of Hortman and Democrats with 34-33 most of the Senate.
Hotman has married colleagues for almost a month to boycott home sessions from January 14 to prevent the LV to use a temporary free space in a democratic place to cement authority over the camera, instead of drafting a government sharing agreement.
However, when partisan release threatened to prevent the legislature from passing the budget to the state government for the next two years, it not only helped the intermediary to the final agreement, but also secured his passage by being the only Democrat voted in the main part of the agreement.
“She was not just a leader – she was a damn good legislature, and minesotans would suffer everywhere for the loss,” said Ken Martin, chairman of the Democratic National Committee, former chairman of the Minnesota State Party and Hortman’s friend.
An injured Senator chair the main committee
Hoffman, 60, is the chairman of the Senate Human Services Committee, which oversees one of the largest parts of the state budget. He lives in a champline, northwestern Minneapolis district, has a consulting firm, and he and his wife Yvette had one daughter.
In the past, he was a non -profit employee of the employee with mental illness and intellectual and development disabilities, marketing and public relations director and supervised the minor detention center in Ayova. He was first elected to the Senate in 2012.
2023 Hoffman has supported budget legislation that extended the state minesotacare health program for immigrants living in the US illegally since this year. On Monday, he voted against a bill to complete that coverage for adults on January 1. – The goal of the GOP, which was the main part of the budget agreement that Hortman helped the broker.
Last year, Hoffman supported a bill to prevent the courts from blocking disabled children. He proposed a change in the State Constitution to create a fund to pay for long -term maintenance by taxing the social security benefits of the richest population.
Hotman served as a democratic leader for nine years
Hotman since 2017 She worked as a home Democratic leader and, for six years, since 2019, she had to refuse the speaker’s job this year after 2024. The election encouraged even the partisan. Her official title was President Emerita this year.
She and her husband Mark lived in Brooklyn Park, another suburb of the Northwest Minneapolis district. They had two adult children.
Attorney -at -law, she lost twice the Rouse race before the first time she won her place in 2004. The US elder and Minnesota Democrat Amy Klobuchar recalled the door -to -door campaign with a Hortman when the Chief Prosecutor Hennepin County was elected Clobuchar in the minneapis. Klobuchar praised Hortman’s support for free schoolpieces, women’s rights and clean energy, calling it a “true civil servant.”
“She is loved by colleagues,” the Klobuchar report said.
Hotman helped to move on a wide agenda in 2023.
Hotman became part of the Democratic leadership team “State Kapitulis” in 2007, and home minority leader in 2017, before Democrats regained the majority of the houses in 2019.
2023 And 2024. Democrats controlled both palace and used their majority to implement a wide liberal agenda and virtually everything in the ambitious wish list. The measures included advanced abortions and trans -trans -female, family and medical leave, universal free school lunch, childcare credits and other families help.
In the past, it has offered the state exhaust standards for cars such as those that are set in California and the ban on selling mercury products. She also offered to investigate the possibilities of state investment in fossil fuel companies.
“She knew how to follow her values, but understood the importance of teamwork and compromise and never retreated from hard choices,” said Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison. “She was cool, was nice and was the best of us.”
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Hanna reported from Topeka, Kansas.