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| Democrat wins special election to fill seat of Minnesota lawmaker who was killed | Democrat wins special election to fill seat of Minnesota lawmaker who was killed |
| (32 minutes later) | |
| Xp Lee beats Republican Ruth Bittner for vacant seat after Melissa Hortman and her husband were killed in June | Xp Lee beats Republican Ruth Bittner for vacant seat after Melissa Hortman and her husband were killed in June |
| Democrat Xp Lee won a special election to fill the state house seat of the former Minnesota house speaker Melissa Hortman, who was killed in June alongside her husband in what officials described as a “politically motivated assassination”. | |
| Lee, a health equity analyst, former Brooklyn Park city council member and a mentee of Hortman’s, triumphed over Republican Ruth Bittner, a real estate agent, in a heavily Democratic, suburban district. His victory restored a legislative tie in the state house, with each party controlling 67 seats. | |
| “I have never lost sight of the situation that brought us to this moment, and I will work hard every day to carry forward Speaker Melissa Hortman’s legacy,” Lee said in a statement on Tuesday night. | “I have never lost sight of the situation that brought us to this moment, and I will work hard every day to carry forward Speaker Melissa Hortman’s legacy,” Lee said in a statement on Tuesday night. |
| The race had attracted national attention, with Democrats celebrating the win as the latest in a string of special election victories. | The race had attracted national attention, with Democrats celebrating the win as the latest in a string of special election victories. |
| “Across Minnesota, our hearts are still broken by the horrific assassination that stole Melissa and her husband Mark,” the Democratic National Committee chair, Ken Martin, who formerly chaired the Minnesota state party and was a close friend of Hortman’s, said in a statement. “Political violence is a scourge that has taken far too many lives. Enough is enough. It must end now. And in every case, each of us has a responsibility to condemn and reject political violence wherever it rears its head.” | |
| The Minnesota election came amid heightened alarm in the US over political violence, and comes just days after the far-right activist Charlie Kirk was shot and killed during an event at Utah Valley University. | The Minnesota election came amid heightened alarm in the US over political violence, and comes just days after the far-right activist Charlie Kirk was shot and killed during an event at Utah Valley University. |
| Authorities say that the man accused of killing the Hortmans, 58-year-old Vance Boelter, had a list of targets which included Democratic lawmakers and abortion rights advocates, and that he traveled to two other legislators’ homes that evening – with plans to assassinate them. | Authorities say that the man accused of killing the Hortmans, 58-year-old Vance Boelter, had a list of targets which included Democratic lawmakers and abortion rights advocates, and that he traveled to two other legislators’ homes that evening – with plans to assassinate them. |
| In an interview with the Associated Press over the weekend, Bittner said that she noticed early in her campaign that residents in the area where Hortman was killed seemed afraid to open their doors. | In an interview with the Associated Press over the weekend, Bittner said that she noticed early in her campaign that residents in the area where Hortman was killed seemed afraid to open their doors. |
| “We are in very, very scary times, and we definitely need to get out of this trajectory that we’re on here,” Bittner said. | “We are in very, very scary times, and we definitely need to get out of this trajectory that we’re on here,” Bittner said. |
| Bittner said that the rise in political violence briefly made her question running for office, but that she ultimately decided: “We can’t cower.” | Bittner said that the rise in political violence briefly made her question running for office, but that she ultimately decided: “We can’t cower.” |
| “We have to move forward as a country,” she added. “We have to embrace the system that we have of representative government, and we have to just do it, you know? …There’s no way to solve this problem if we shrink back in fear.” | “We have to move forward as a country,” she added. “We have to embrace the system that we have of representative government, and we have to just do it, you know? …There’s no way to solve this problem if we shrink back in fear.” |
| Lee told the Minnesota Star Tribune in August that one of his motivations for running was to “take up” Hortman’s “legacy of leadership” and said that Hortman “paved pathways for a lot of us”. | Lee told the Minnesota Star Tribune in August that one of his motivations for running was to “take up” Hortman’s “legacy of leadership” and said that Hortman “paved pathways for a lot of us”. |
| Lee told the AP that Hortman was a neighbor he often saw walking her dog, and that she had offered him guidance when he ran for city council. | Lee told the AP that Hortman was a neighbor he often saw walking her dog, and that she had offered him guidance when he ran for city council. |
| “I can’t think of a better way to honor her than to go to the capitol and do my best in the seat,” Lee said. | |
| Lee acknowledged the heightened tensions following Kirk’s killing, describing the current political climate as a “charged atmosphere”. | Lee acknowledged the heightened tensions following Kirk’s killing, describing the current political climate as a “charged atmosphere”. |
| “So I want to do what I can to really bring that down,” he said, including supporting a ban on automatic and semiautomatic weapons and high-capacity magazines. | |
| Lee said that he keeps a shotgun himself for home defense but that assault-style rifles “are weapons of war that really we don’t need on our streets”. | Lee said that he keeps a shotgun himself for home defense but that assault-style rifles “are weapons of war that really we don’t need on our streets”. |
| Boelter faces federal and state murder charges in the Hortmans’ deaths, as well as attempted murder and other charges in the shooting of another Democratic Minnesota lawmaker, state senator John Hoffman, and his wife, Yvette, who both survived. | |
| Boelter was indicted in July on multiple federal and state charges, including murder, attempted murder, and firearms violations. He has pleaded not guilty. | Boelter was indicted in July on multiple federal and state charges, including murder, attempted murder, and firearms violations. He has pleaded not guilty. |