One Year After Her Death, Lawmakers Reflect On Former House Speaker Melissa Hortman's Legacy At The Legislature

CBS Minnesota

June 15, 2026

In the months after the assasination of former Minnesota House Speaker Melissa Hortman, the Legislature this session approved a number of tributes to honor how she shaped the institution and the state through her leadership and policy: a memorial garden for the State Office Building; calling Highway 610 "Hortman Memorial Highway" because she secured funding for the project; and renaming the state's community solar garden program — one of her proudest legislative achievements — in her memory.

But lawmakers across the political spectrum say what best defines Hortman's legacy in St. Paul is that she consistently put people above politics.

Just ask Rep. Nolan West, a rank-and-file Republican from Blaine. He described her as an "unguarded" person who would talk to him "like a human being" regardless of her powerful leadership position.

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