was originally reported by Grace Panetta of . .

Melissa Hortman, a former Minnesota House speaker who championed the passage of ambitious progressive policies in the state, was assassinated early Saturday in what Gov. Tim Walz called “an act of targeted political violence.” 

Hortman, 55, who was elected to the Minnesota House in 2004, became the speaker of the state’s House of Representatives in 2019 and, during her first few years, presided over the chamber under a divided government. In 2022, when the Democratic-Farmer-Labor (DFL) Party won full control of the state government, Hortman played a key role in shaping what legislation the chamber would prioritize, working closely with Walz to enact a slew of progressive policies that included major investments in children and families, as well as expanded protections for abortion and gender-affirming care. She left the post in March.

A man posing as a police officer killed Hortman and her husband, Mark, at their home in the Minneapolis suburb of Brooklyn Park in what Walz described at a news conference as an apparent “politically motivated assassination.” DFL state Sen. John Hoffman and his wife, Yvette, were shot by the same gunman at their home in nearby Champlin. Walz said they were out of surgery and was “cautiously optimistic” that they would make a recovery.  

“Our state lost a great leader and I lost the greatest of friends,” Walz said. “Speaker Hortman was someone who served the people of Minnesota with grace, compassion, humour and a sense of service. She was a formidable public servant, a fixture and a giant in Minnesota. She woke up every day determined to make this state a better place. She is irreplaceable and will be missed by so many.”  

Hours after the attacks, an “extensive manhunt” remained underway for the suspect, who impersonated a law enforcement officer to enter Hortman’s home, Brooklyn Park chief of police Mark Bruley told reporters in a news conference Saturday. The suspect fled on foot, leaving behind his car, where, law enforcement officials found a list containing about 70 names, including abortion providers and advocates, as well as lawmakers.

Here’s a look at Hortman’s legislative history and legacy on key policies:

Abortion:

After the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the federal right to abortion in June 2022, Minnesota emerged as a key access point for abortion as other Midwestern states moved to ban the procedure. 

“There was a simmering rage that did not stop,” Hortman said after the 2022 election, according to . “I was hopeful that voters would take that energy and put it on the ballot and vote for Democrats. And thankfully they did.”

In 2023, Hortman led the Minnesota House in passing , legislation that codified the legality of abortion and other forms of reproductive health care in the state. In subsequent bills, the Minnesota legislature eliminated other restrictions on abortion, passed protections for abortion providers, boosted state funding for clinics providing abortion and eliminated funding for anti-abortion counseling centers.     

LGBTQ+ rights: 

The Minnesota legislature passed a bill for minors in the state, which Walz signed into law in April 2023. Lawmakers passed additional legislation with that made Minnesota a “trans refuge state.”  

Paid leave: 

In with the Minnesota Reformer, Hortman cited a as “the most rewarding” piece of legislation she passed. The legislature also enacted paid sick leave and paid safe leave for survivors of intimate partner violence, to help them find temporary housing or seek relief in court. 

“An average person can take time, whether it’s to take care of somebody who has cancer or to take care of a new baby,” she said. “People shouldn’t have to choose between a job and recovering from illness.”

Child care and education: 

Hortman and Walz passed major investments in aimed at lowering child poverty and hunger. These included providing free school breakfasts and lunches, expanding the child tax credit and increasing funding for early childhood scholarships, child care provider stabilization funds and child care for low-income families. Lawmakers also enacted a program making tuition at Minnesota’s public colleges free for families earning less than $80,00 a year.   

“From the word ‘go,’ you can see that children were top of mind,” Hortman . “Gov. Tim Walz gave a very inspiring state of the state address in 2023. He was very clear that his administration was focused on reducing childhood poverty. The DFL House and the DFL Senate said, ‘Governor, we are right there with you.’”

In 2024, Minnesota lawmakers from local schools and libraries on the basis of ideological or content objections. 

Gun safety and criminal justice: 

After the murder of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer in May 2020, Hortman worked across the aisle to . In 2023, the Minnesota legislature passed the Restore the Vote Act, which restored voting rights to formerly incarcerated Minnesotans upon completion of their sentences. Hortman was also an advocate for gun violence prevention . In 2023, Walz signed a bill that measures like universal background checks and extreme risk protection orders, or “red flag” laws. In 2024, the Minnesota legislature that, among other things, made straw purchases of firearms a felony. 

“We clearly have a gun violence problem in this country, and there are things we can do about it, and we did them,” Hortman .

In most states, young people overwhelmingly supported pro-abortion ballot measures, even while voting for GOP President-elect Donald Trump at the top of the ticket, according to a new data analysis of young voters in the 2024 election.

Although young people listed the economy and jobs as the most important issue in the election, abortion came in at number two. This was particularly significant given that more than a dozen states had ballot measures related to protecting or codifying access to abortion rights,

In all states for which Tuft University’s , had reliable data, young voters ages 18-29 overwhelmingly voted in favor of these reproductive rights measures, even as they moved right from the 2020 election, voting for Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris by much slimmer margins or — in Florida and Missouri — pulling the lever for Trump. 

In Florida, over half (52%) of young voters cast their ballot in favor of ending the state’s six-week abortion ban, despite voting for Trump by a 10-point margin.

Youth activist and chairman of the Jayden D’Onofrio saw this play out live on Florida State University’s campus on the last day of early voting when he shuttled students to their polling place via golf cart. 

He said he heard from countless young Republicans who voted for Trump — whose Supreme Court nominees were largely responsible for overturning the constitutional right to an abortion — yet also supported Amendment 4. If the ballot measure had passed, it would have established a statewide constitutional right to abortion before fetal viability.

“The first two, three times, it’s like, ‘Oh, OK, that’s interesting. You’re voting for Republicans, but you’re voting yes on four,’” he told ����Ӱ��. “And then after like the first three times, it was just like, ‘OK, holy crap. You know, how many of you people are there?’ ” 

He largely blames the state Democratic party for this disconnect, arguing they failed to message, motivate, or educate youth voters “on where we stand on this issue and where Republicans stand on this issue, and as a result, [young Republicans] voted antithetical to their own beliefs.” 

He added that this mismatch was particularly prominent among young people who told him Trump was pro-choice as well.

Harris garnered 43% of the overall vote in Florida, and the ballot measure received 57.2% of the vote. The amendment ultimately didn’t pass because it didn’t reach Florida’s 60% threshold. Most states require a simple majority. 

This overwhelming support of pro-abortion rights ballot measures, despite a movement to the right generally in 2024, matches and previous , which found 53% of all young voters identify as pro-choice.

Ruby Belle Booth, a researcher at CIRCLE, said it’s further evidence of an emerging trend in which young conservatives and Republicans are consistently more liberal than older ones on a few key issues such as climate change and abortion.

“With this more conservative electorate, it doesn’t mean that they’re more conservative on every single issue,” she said.

Rhea Maniar, a Harvard University freshman and former chair of the said she wasn’t expecting the “magic wand… miracle” of a Harris win in her home state, but she was cautiously optimistic about the ballot measure.

Ultimately, she was left disappointed by her party’s inability to hit the 60% mark and encouraged leaders to reevaluate their approach to the youth vote generally. 

“There has to be a reason why folks are willing to put Trump on the top of their ticket and then still vote for abortion,” she said. “And I think Democrats are really going to need to take a hard, long look at what’s happening.” 

The ‘frat boy vote’

Youth turnout this year (42%) was lower than the historic turnout in 2020 — more similarly mirroring that of 2016 — except in the battleground states, where it was much closer to the 50% mark. 

“What the turnout in the battlegrounds really shows,” said Booth, “is that when young people are engaged in elections and when there’s a lot of investment in engaging young people in elections they learn to feel like they can make a difference. They feel like their voice matters and they have resources that young people in a lot of other states don’t have.”

The young people who did turn out to vote were significantly more conservative. Young voters backed Harris overall by a mere 4 points (51% to 47%) but gravitated toward Trump compared to 2020, when they gave President Biden a much larger margin (+25). 

The youth electorate was more Republican than 2020 by 9 percentage points, whereas Democratic-identifying youth dropped by five points. It’s not yet clear if this indicates an ideological sea change among the youngest generation of voters or a shift in who turned out to vote, said Booth.

“It just goes to show that there’s so many different kinds of young people out there with so many different priorities,” she said, “and I think for a long time people just assumed that all young people were liberal voters and this election proved that that was not the case. And that’s something we’ve been saying for a really long time — but I think not everybody has been listening.”

One thing she believes is clear this early: young voters were driven by issues. Forty percent of young people chose the economy and jobs as their top issue, and those who did so were about 20 points more likely to vote for Trump. Abortion came in second place, followed by immigration in third — a shift from 2022 when immigration was ranked lower. 

This appears to be a driving factor in the movement toward Trump, who throughout his campaign and is now planning for . Young voters who listed immigration as their top issue supported Trump by a 70-point margin. 

Early data suggests the migration overall is largely attributable to young men, who supported President Joe Biden over Trump by six points, but voted for Trump by a 14-point margin this time around. Among young white men, that margin ballooned to 28 points.

Black and Asian youth overwhelmingly voted for Harris over Trump by the largest margin — about 50 points — while young white voters favored Trump overall (54% to 44%).

The largest shift for any racial or ethnic group of youth between the 2020 and 2024 elections were Latinos, who favored Harris by a 20-point margin this year but went for Biden by a 49-point margin. Young Latino men were 14 points more likely to identify as Republican than they were four years ago, though they still were more likely overall to identify as Democrats.

Youth organizer D’Onofrio, who identifies as “just as a regular, straight white dude who’s 19 years old in Florida,” said he’s seen this dynamic play out among his male friends, the majority of whom are Republicans.

He said he’s started to notice that despite supporting some liberal issues — such as abortion rights — many of these young men have been of hyper-masculinity that “makes them feel good,” which Trump and the Republican party have successfully tapped into.

His peers see Trump going on conservative talk shows, like The Joe Rogan Experience, or engaging with Twitch streamers or billionaire businessmen like Elon Musk. Meanwhile Democrats, he said, are not meeting this demographic where they are, nor do they understand how to talk to them. 

Ultimately, he said, Democrats must recruit strong messengers, with relatable information that they get out on the platforms young men actually engage with.

“It’s the frat boy vote,” he said. “You know, embracing it is unfortunately the way to do it. But by embracing it, you can actively change their minds on it and show that we’re regular people [who aren’t] trying to destroy or dilute their vote.”

Correction: Young male voters favored President-elect Donald Trump by a 14-point margin this year. An earlier version of this story had that number at 28, which is the margin by which young white male voters favored Trump.

The Ohio Economic Experts Panel answered . The survey asked whether the economists agreed that prohibition of abortion in Ohio would reduce “women’s educational attainment in the state,” would “reduce women’s labor force participation in the state,” and would reduce “women’s earnings in the state.”

The survey comes as Ohio awaits a decision from the U.S. Supreme Court on an abortion ban case, after a was leaked indicating the court is poised to strike down Roe v. Wade and with it, national abortion rights.

It also comes as if the 1973 abortion legalization court case is overturned sits in the General Assembly awaiting committee meetings and possible passage.

In the survey, 22 of 24 economists in the state agreed that abortion bans would cause decreases in education and economic abilities. 

“Of the 22 who agreed abortion prohibition would decrease wages, economists commented on the tradeoff women have between working and parenting,” Scioto Analysis stated in their survey summary. 

Of all the responses received, “strongly agree” overwhelmingly surpassed any other response.

Individual responses came mostly from those that agreed with the statements.

“The empirical evidence is very clear about the negative impact of unplanned pregnancies on women’s educational attainment, especially when support services are unavailable or unaffordable,” said Dr. Fadhel Kaboub, of Denison University.

Those that entered “strongly disagree” responses didn’t include elaboration through individual responses.

Dr. Jonathan Andreas, of Bluffton University, agreed that abortion prohibitions would reduce women’s earnings in the state, but he said abortion “will have a small effect on average income and education statistics” because those most affected by prohibition are “the poorest women who have the least opportunities.”

“Middle-class and wealthy women just pay more money and get out-of-state abortions or pay illegal providers in the state,” Andreas wrote.

Many of the comments focused on low-income communities and people of color as disparately impacted by an abortion ban in Ohio. 

“Economic research overwhelmingly indicates that abortion rights greatly affect the educational level, career opportunities, earning and wealth enhancement potential for women,” said Dr. Diane Monaco, of Heidelberg University. “Abortion rights advantages are especially profound for historically marginalized women as well.”

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“This Supreme Court does not represent Gen Z or the future we imagine for our country,” , the youth-led organization behind the protest, wrote in a press release signed by several other youth-powered groups including and the . 

“Young people are appalled and horrified by the leaked Supreme Court decision to strip all people who can become pregnant of their basic right to choose.”

Hundreds of youth activists rallied outside the U.S. Supreme Court Thursday evening denouncing the leaked majority opinion set to overturn the landmark 1973 decision, which guarantees federal constitutional protection of abortion rights. More protests are planned in cities across the country in the coming weeks, organizers said.

Eve Levenson, who emceed the Thursday event and is a senior at George Washington University, said the rally was meant to send a message to elected officials.

“It was really about making it clear to those in power … how much Generation Z cares about this issue,” she told ����Ӱ��.

Generation Z includes individuals roughly born between 1997 to 2012, or those currently ages 10 to 25. A majority of abortion patients nationwide are , and 37% are 24 or younger.

Organizers estimate that there may have been nearly 1,000 young protesters outside the Supreme Court, Levenson said, some who traveled from as far as New York state. Another 40,000 viewers watched the stream on Twitter and 80,000 watched on TikTok. Many youth who could not make the trek to the nation’s capital are now planning their own local demonstrations, she said.

The rally was “100% Gen Z led,” Levenson explained, including many high school-age organizers. On the evening of May 2, when the leaked draft majority opinion published by revealed that the Supreme Court appears poised to reverse Roe, her group chat of youth organizers exploded, she said. Someone suggested the idea of a rally in front of the Supreme Court and “it kind of just came together really quickly from there,” said the college senior.

“We all felt so galvanized,” added Levenson. “[Young people] are for bodily autonomy, we are for access to abortion, we are for reproductive health care and people are really pissed off to see those things taken away.”

Speaker Soraya Bata, a student at Georgetown University, pointed out that over a dozen states have trigger laws set to immediately ban abortions should Roe fall. Her home state of Florida in April passed a law banning the medical procedures just 15 weeks into pregnancy, replacing a previous rule that allowed abortions within the first 24 weeks. States including Oklahoma and Texas have recently passed similar restrictions.

“Some people won’t even know that they are pregnant at that stage,” said the young leader. “These laws mean that the only people who will have access to abortions are wealthy Americans who can afford to travel out of state.”

Nearly half, 49%, of those who had abortions in 2014, the most recent year for which data are available, were . Another 26% made less than twice the level, meaning 3 in 4 people seeking abortions had little, if any, disposable income.

Addressing the crowd Thursday, Sofia Ongele, a youth activist with , took aim at the underlying logic put forward in the leaked Supreme Court draft.

“Justice Alito’s core argument is that abortion is ‘not deeply rooted in this nation’s history and traditions,’” she said. “Our nation’s history is marked by genocide, slavery [and] classism. … We owe it to our ancestors to fight for a better world than they had.”

Contraception, the young speaker explained, saved her life. In 2018, she received an emergency blood transfusion after her periods caused extreme anemia. Since then, she has used hormonal birth control to regulate her cycle.

“To stay alive, I had to have complete control over my body,” said Ongele. “Should anyone infringe on those rights, my health and safety would immediately be threatened.”

Though many of the organizations behind the rally self-identify as nonpartisan, several speakers implied there would be political ramifications for officials who oppose policy measures to protect reproductive rights, along with other issues such as addressing climate change, LBGTQ rights and health equity. The young protesters were by Democratic U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock, who ​​is running for re-election in a Georgia race that could determine whether Democrats maintain control of the Senate.

“Our politicians work for us,” said Melissa Altschiller, an organizer with March for Our Lives. “If they continue to make decisions about our bodies, we will continue to make decisions about their jobs.”

Roughly two-thirds of 18- to 24-year old voters in the 2020 presidential election voted for Joe Biden, NBC revealed — 11 percentage points more than any other age group. Between Generation Z and Millennials, who on many social issues, are eligible to vote in the 2022 election cycle. 

“I think we’re going to see young people continuing to organize around this going forward,” said Levenson.