this is fucking me up. that is MY Speaker of the House. I’ve been getting her legislative update emails for years. I have never voted for her specifically on a ballot, but i’ve been voting for her team for over a decade now. She guided MN to passing all those amazing measures during the 2021-2022 session, stuff like universal free school lunches, state-mandated sick-and-safe work leave, and legalized cannabis. The kinda shit that gives me hope in local and state politics as an antidote for our national sickness. The DFL’s recent work was undoubtedly a group effort, and our state has many great leaders (like Tim Walz) that were necessary to see it through. But Hortman has been such a force, and I wonder if the DFL would have been nearly as productive in those two years without her at the wheel. I barely knew who she was as a person, but I am grieving this loss today.