Melissa Hortman’s rise to power as a state representative from Brooklyn Park in the Minnesota House to Speaker of the House wouldn’t be described as meteoric.

Instead, it was a rise notable for steady progression up the ranks built in large part on an ability to forge relationships in her own Democratic Party and to work across the aisle with Republicans.

After two failed attempts to win her House seat, Hortman broke through in 2004 when she defeated a Republican incumbent in her north suburban district by 402 votes, garnering just over 50%.

Her first year in office in 2005 was spent the way most freshman legislators start out. She mostly kept quiet in House floor debates while she learned how the Legislature operates.

The first time Hortman turns up in our 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS archives is in 2006 when she speaks at a news conference supporting a bill mandating the recycling of fluorescent light bulbs. “If we increase recycling of fluorescent bulbs in Minnesota by 50 percent over current rates, we as consumers can take 100 pounds of mercury out of the environment,” she told reporters.

That was an example of Hortman’s pragmatic approach to legislation. So was her support in 2006 of creating a commission to study ways Minnesota could make a long-shot bid to host the 2020 Summer Olympics.

“I’m just here for the money,” she said. “I like to see jobs and economic growth. And if this is a way to bring jobs and economic growth to the Twin Cities area, then I’m all for it.”

In 2008, Hortman was given the job of helping manage the successful override of Republican Gov. Tim Pawlenty’s veto of a transportation bill that included the first gas tax increases in many years.

“The cost of not acting is far more expensive than the cost of acting,” Hortman said during the House floor debate, arguing that fixing roads and bridges would only get more expensive the longer the state waited to fund construction projects through gas tax revenue.

After serving as an assistant majority leader starting in 2007, she slowly but steadily kept progressing through the House DFL Caucus until she was elected minority leader in 2017. She almost immediately earned the enmity of House Republicans and the respect of her DFL colleagues when she called out some Republican lawmakers who were literally playing cards in a back room. It happened during an emotional floor debate, involving speeches from several minority female lawmakers.

“I hate to break up the 100 percent white male card game in the retiring room, but I think this is an important debate,” she said on the House floor. “Rep. Rita Moran giving the most heartfelt incredible speech I’ve ever heard on this House floor as long as I can remember,” she added, among several speeches she cited that occurred while some Republican members were playing cards.

Republican lawmakers who were then in the majority filed a complaint against her for citing their race and gender and demanded an apology. She refused to apologize, and a week later, women rallied outside the House chambers in support of her, some carrying signs that said, “Sorry…not sorry.”

Two years later, when Democrats won back control of the House for the 2019 session, Hortman was elected Speaker of the House. After thanking her family for their support in her political journey, she pledged to work on behalf of all Minnesotans.

“Hardworking Minnesotans deserve a hardworking Legislature,” she said as she wielded the gavel for the first time. “I look forward to the challenges ahead. Let’s get to work!”

Hortman held the Speaker of the House position until early 2025, when Minnesota voters elected a tied House of Representatives, with 67 Democrats and 67 Republicans.

In the newly created position of House Speaker Emerita, Hortman continued to lead the DFL Caucus while Republican Rep. Lisa Demuth became Speaker of the House while the two parties shared power.

The 2025 budget negotiations proved to be among the toughest of Hortman’s career. Ultimately, she made the difficult decision to agree to vote for a bill that would strip access by adult undocumented immigrants to the state’s taxpayer-subsidized health insurance program. Hortman said the alternative would be a partial government shutdown.

“I know that people will be hurt by that vote,” she said while choking back tears shortly after the House adjourned a special session on June 9. “We worked very hard to try to get a budget deal that wouldn’t include that provision, and we tried any other way we could to come to a budget agreement with Republicans, and they wouldn’t have it. So I did what leaders do, I stepped up and I got the job done for the people of Minnesota.”

Hortman, her husband Mark and their golden retriever Gilbert will lie in state in the Minnesota State Capitol Rotunda on Friday from noon to 5 p.m.

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