Appearing on NBC’s Meet the Press, Klobuchar praised Hortman, who was assasinated Saturday, as a "true public servant" and an "extraordinary leader,"

Melissa Hortman’s power as a Democratic leader to shape the course of a deeply divided Minnesota Legislature was a far cry from her job as a teenager making chili-cheese burritos and overshadowed her volunteer work training service dogs for veterans.

In response, the Minnesota Vikings, the state’s NFL team, issued a statement condemning the assaults on the lawmakers. Hortman, 55, had collaborated with the team for more than a decade during her time in the House of Representatives, where she had served since 2005. She became Speaker in 2019.

State Rep. Luke Frederick of Mankato had been thinking about Melissa Hortman continuously Saturday, but his voice still broke when he started to voice those thoughts early in