Tribute: Minnesota Law Mourns Speaker Emerita Melissa Hortman ’95

The University of Minnesota Law School community mourns the tragic death of Minnesota House of Representatives Speaker Emerita and DFL Leader Melissa Hortman ’95 and her spouse, Mark Hortman. Representative Hortman was a proud public servant who dedicated her career to the people of Minnesota. 

Dean William McGeveran, William S. Pattee Professor of Law, says, “The faculty and staff of Minnesota Law join me in expressing our sorrow at this tragic murder. Melissa used her legal training and political skills pragmatically to achieve ambitious goals on behalf of Minnesota. So many of our faculty, staff, and alumni are among those grieving her loss.”

Professor Myron Orfield, Earl R. Larson Professor of Civil Rights and Civil Liberties Law, says, “I knew Melissa Hortman for over 30 years, from the time when she was a gifted student at the University of Minnesota Law School in the 1990s. I saw her develop into an idealistic and shrewd political leader.  She led a purposeful and important life, and she will be terribly missed. Her memory will always be a blessing to me, and I hope it will be to all who knew her. She would want us to find resolve in her loss, not despair.”

Professor Emeritus Bradley Clary ’75 coached Hortman on Minnesota Law’s 1994-95 National Moot Court Competition Team. “Even back then, she was a star, and her light just kept getting brighter over the years,” he says. “She was a thoughtful, honest, dedicated advocate in the finest traditions of the Law School. And, in addition, she was just a really decent person. In the end, she gave her life in the service of Minnesota. I hope she will rest in peace in the knowledge of a life well lived.”

In 2019, Minnesota Law magazine featured Hortman and fellow alumni, former Representative Ryan Winkler ’01, and Governor Tim Walz’s Chief of Staff Chris Schmitter ’13, in an article about their careers in public service. The article noted that Hortman’s rise to the upper echelon of power at the Capitol was a testament to, among other things, her dogged persistence. She made two failed bids for her House seat before a successful run in 2004. 

Hortman always had an interest in politics and public policy, she told Minnesota Law magazine. As an undergraduate at Boston University, she majored in philosophy, a field that often leads to unconventional career paths. So, given what she referred to as her “save the world” ambitions, law school seemed a natural fit. She returned to her home state and enrolled at the University of Minnesota Law School.

After obtaining her J.D., Hortman worked for Central Minnesota Legal Services, where she focused on landlord-tenant and housing discrimination work. In 1997, she garnered a then-record-setting verdict in a housing discrimination lawsuit. But she also soon realized that there was only so much she could accomplish through such litigation.

“I represented mostly poor women with children, many of whom came from several generations of poverty. It wasn’t just cockroaches or inadequate heat or [landlord demands for] sexual favors that were the sum total of her clients’ problems,” she said. “Their problems came from inadequate wages and inadequate education. I grew frustrated in my inability to address those economic and social problems.”

It was then that Hortman turned to a career in public service. Her list of accomplishments is long. She was first elected to the Minnesota House of Representatives in 2004 and served as an assistant majority leader from 2007 to 2010 and as minority whip from 2011 to 2012. From 2013 to 2014, she served as House speaker pro tempore and chaired the Energy Policy Committee. She served as deputy minority leader from 2015 to 2016. Her caucus then elected Hortman to serve as minority leader from 2017 to 2018, minority leader of the Minnesota House of Representatives from 2017 to 2019, and as the 61st Speaker of the Minnesota House of Representatives from 2019 to 2025.

Professor Megan Walsh, director of the Gun Violence Prevention Clinic, described Speaker Emerita Hortman as the definition of the leader we encourage our students to become at Minnesota Law. “She was honest, accountable, and fair to all sides. She championed the causes in which she believed, and also did the daily, unheralded tasks necessary to make change,” says Walsh. “Her goal was to serve and to make Minnesota a better place, and, under her leadership, our state became safer, a better place for working families, and better prepared for future challenges. When I told Speaker Emerita Hortman about the Gun Violence Prevention Clinic, she reminded me proudly that she was a Minnesota Law alumna. We are all better for her service.” 

Professor Emeritus Robert Stein ’61 stated that Melissa Hortman was a fantastic leader — bright, caring, compassionate, strong, and dedicated to public service. “She was not only a political star in Minnesota, rising to Speaker of the Minnesota House of Representatives, but she was also active in developing important legislation for states throughout the nation through her work in the National Uniform State Laws Commission,” he says. “Her death is a tragic loss for Minnesota and for the nation.”

Minnesota Law extends our heartfelt condolences to the Hortmans’ family, friends, colleagues, and fellow alumni.