Klobuchar Remembers Slain Lawmaker as Close Friend Who Worked Across the Aisle

Sen. Amy Klobuchar revealed over the weekend that the Minnesota state representative who was slain alongside her husband in what appeared to be “a politically motivated assassination” was a personal friend she had known for more than a decade.

Klobuchar, who on Sunday morning sat for a marathon round of emotional interviews with CNN, ABC, and NBC, said that she was attending a dinner Friday in her home state alongside state Rep. Melissa Hortman and spoke with her just hours before the shocking attack. She also said Gov. Tim Walz woke her up at 5 a.m. Saturday to share the heartbreaking news that Hortman had passed away following the incident.

The Minnesota Democrat said she and Hortman, who rose through the ranks of the state legislature to become Speaker of the House, started in politics around the same time and bonded over their shared experiences as mothers working in politics.

“When you think about a true public servant, who goes into it for the right reasons, it’s Melissa,” Klobuchar said on ABC’s This Week. “She was a true leader and loved her work but was always so grounded and such a decent person. I think that’s probably the best word to describe her.”

Hortman, 55, was killed early Saturday morning alongside her husband, Mark, by a gunman authorities say was posing as a police officer. The suspect, identified by authorities as 57-year-old Vance Boelter, also allegedly shot and injured another state lawmaker, Sen. John Hoffman, and his wife. Hoffman and his wife, Yvette, are expected to recover from their injuries.

When police arrived at Hortman’s home, they encountered the suspect, who engaged officers in a shootout, during which he escaped on foot. The suspect is still at large and Minnesota authorities have urged the public to be on high alert.

In his own public remarks, Walz said Hortman “served with grace, compassion, humor and a sense of service.”

“She was a formidable public servant, a fixture and a giant in Minnesota,” he added.

Klobuchar remembered her friend in much the same way, saying that Hortman’s experience juggling her duties as a working mother made her a more compassionate and effective lawmaker who was able to build consensus even in one of the country’s most closely divided legislatures.

“She was able to juggle being a Sunday school teacher, being a Girl Scout leader and even training service dogs for veterans. She and Mark … they were able to juggle it all,” Klobuchar said on This Week. “Maybe that’s what helped her be this incredible legislator who worked her way up to Speaker of the House, who helped lead the efforts to pass this incredible work on paid family leave … or free school lunch, or the work she did last year with the governor where we had a literally tied legislature and she and her Republican counterpart, another woman, were able to negotiate a budget and get that done so we didn’t go into government shutdown in a very difficult time.”

Klobuchar also described Hoffman as a compassionate state lawmaker who got into politics to advocate for his daughter, who has spina bifida, and provide better insurance options for parents like himself.

“What I know about them is that they are hanging in there,” she said. “His wife was out of surgery first, and she’s actually texted some of our mutual friends. He may face some additional surgeries, but he is also in stable condition right now, from what I know.”

“[These were] decent people who didn’t deserve this to happen to them — 2 in the morning, in the middle of the night, when all they’re doing is trying to represent the people that they were elected to represent,” Klobuchar added.

As of Sunday morning, police are still looking for Boelter, who they say may be armed and dangerous.

The chief of police for Brooklyn Park, a suburb of Minneapolis, said Saturday that officers found a “manifesto” in the suspect’s vehicle with the names of dozens of elected officials and politically involved locals. The list included Sen. Tina Smith, she confirmed Saturday afternoon, as well as Reps. Ilhan Omar and Kelly Morrison, according to the Minneapolis Star-Tribune.

Klobuchar said Sunday morning that she was unsure if she was on the gunman’s list of targets — though she said that congressional officials have increased her security detail, as well as the rest of the Minnesota delegation.

Authorities believe Boelter “may be” in Minnesota, Klobuchar said on Meet the Press — though a law enforcement bulletin has also been issued for him in South Dakota.

“We believe he’s somewhere in the vicinity and that they are going to find him,” the senator said. “But right now, everyone is on edge here because we know that this man will kill in a second.”

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Brett Bachman is a senior editor for breaking news at NOTUS.