Melissa Hortman Was the Anti-Trump

            The assassin who took Melissa Hortman’s life on June 14 robbed us all of a great leader. Richard Carlbom, our new state DFL chair, maybe put it best when he described her as “a workhorse, not a show horse.” I suspect Richard had a specific person in mind when he made that contrast, and most likely you can guess. Unlike the narcissist who currently occupies the White House, Hortman was not one to hog the center stage. It was not always about her. Her leadership was about bringing people together to get things done.

            And get things done she did! As Speaker of the House during the great trifecta year of 2023, she united her caucus behind a raft of legislation surpassing anything we’ve seen in many decades. The list includes universal school lunches, paid family and medical leave, historic funding for public schools and rural broadband, a commitment to going carbon-free, protecting reproductive freedom, and tuition-free college for low- and middle-income families. The common thread in all of it was her deep commitment to making life better for ordinary Minnesotans. She was not on the side of the billionaires.

            Then, when the last election left the House tied, Hortman succeeded in protecting those gains. When Republicans sought to exploit a temporary majority to roll back some programs, she boldly led her caucus in a boycott of the session until a special election restored the tie. Although Republicans complained and complained, she never treated them as the enemy. Instead, she cultivated relationships with Republican leaders like Lisa Demuth and Jim Abeler so that, when the work finally resumed, they got it done.

            It was no easy task coming to agreement with Republicans, but Hortman proved to be someone who really could make deals. She did not bully, and she did not grandstand. She knew that painful compromises would be necessary. The most painful was compromising on providing health care for undocumented immigrants, and Hortman put aside her own feelings to cast the sole Democratic vote on the measure, sparing her colleagues the necessity.

            My only encounter with Melissa Hortman came years ago when I was serving on the Government Relations Committee of my faculty union. She came and spoke to us about what we could expect in the coming legislative session, and she did not sugar-coat it with promises she couldn’t keep. She lived in the real world and told it to us straight, in contrast to a certain habitual liar.

            The list of differences doesn’t end there. They say she had a good sense of humor. She was also a generous person and gave of her time helping to train service dogs for veterans. Indeed, she loved dogs. Above all, in the words of Gov. Walz, “She served the people of Minnesota with grace, compassion, and tirelessness.” As if to highlight his own lack of grace and compassion, when asked about calling Walz after the shooting, Trump replied, “Why would I call him? I could call and say, ‘Hi, how you doing?’ The guy doesn’t have a clue. He’s a mess. So I could be nice and call, but why waste time?” Like Billy Joel sang, “Only the good die young.”

            We honor her memory by our own commitment to the work of lifting up others and opposing the orange mob boss.

Paul Harris