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Melissa Hortman’s assassin picked a target whose loss cuts far beyond the boundaries of Minnesota politics. To mourn Hortman is to mourn not merely a public servant, but a movement builder, who understood that real power lies not in the charisma of a single leader, but in the scaffolding of a progressive ecosystem; think tanks, advocacy groups, grassroots organizers and unions, working in concert to turn narrow legislative margins into torrents of transformation.
In a time when some leading Democrats are running from “woke”, the radical lesson of Hortman’s life and career is that woke, done right, worked.
As House speaker, in 2023, Hortman led the session that won tangible reforms: writing abortion rights into law, expanding LGBTQ protections and banning hateful “conversion therapies”; winning paid family and medical leave as well as universal school meals for all Minnesotans, and pushing forward ambitious climate action and gun safety laws. Dubbed the “Minnesota Miracle” these were not accidents or the product of fleeting blue waves; they were the result of years of progressive groundwork, and long-term, infrastructure building.
The most successful leaders of Minnesota’s Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party are experts at balancing urban and rural interests, but it’s painstaking work to forge coalitions that can withstand both internal dissent and external assault. As House speaker, Hortman brought unions, church groups, environmental and women’s and LGBTQ rights groups into the process of designing the “miracle”, and proved, in the face of cynicism and obstruction, that a progressive agenda can be both bold and achievable – and need not be a zero-sum game between idealism and pragmatism.
Hortman’s murder, alongside her husband Mark, in their own home, was a targeted political attack. This was not random violence. It was a chilling escalation in the threats faced by those who dare to lead with courage and vision. The fact that the suspect targeted other lawmakers as well is a stark reminder that the stakes are not merely ideological—they are existential.
That said, the moment demands more than mourning. It demands a reckoning with the culture of political violence that the Trump / MAGA movement has fostered and grown. It demands that we recognize the risks borne by those who step forward to lead, and it demands that our officials refuse to be intimidated into retreat or silence.
It also demands organizing — fiercely, strategically, nurturing new leaders –in the way named after another Minnesota progressive who died too soon: the Wellstone Way. Paul Wellstone’s name lives on in the work that Hortman did. I suspect Hortman’s name will live on, too.
Her death is a call to arms — not for vengeance — but for solidarity, resilience, dreaming bold dreams, and relentless, courageous organizing to achieve them.
You can watch my interview with author/activist Sarah Schulman about her latest book The Fantasy and Necessity of Solidarity coming up on Laura Flanders & Friends on YouTube and PBS stations or listen to my uncut conversations with any of my guests, by subscribing to our free podcast. All the information is at www.lauraflanders.org.
This post was originally published on Laura Flanders & Friends.