Rep. Zack Stephenson succeeds Melissa Hortman as House DFL caucus leader

Minnesota House Democrats elected Rep Zack Stephenson as their new caucus leader on Monday ending a months-long vacancy after the assassination of former House Speaker Rep Melissa Hortman Stephenson a representative from Coon Rapids was first elected to the Minnesota House in He s an assistant Hennepin County prosecutor and was the key House sponsor of the bill that legalized recreational marijuana in Minnesota Undated courtesy photo from the - Minnesota legislative session of Rep Zack Stephenson DFL-Coon Rapids Courtesy of the Minnesota House of Representatives In a news release on his voting process as caucus leader Stephenson disclosed he was honored to receive his colleagues encouragement and described Hortman as irreplaceable as a leader and friend While I ve been chosen to lead it will take all of us working together to move forward honor Speaker Hortman s legacy and build a Minnesota where everyone can succeed he stated We are all still grieving but I am confident we can carry our shared work into the future Stephenson chaired the House Commerce Committee when the DFL held the majority He also co-chairs the influential House Approaches and Means Committee which reviews fiscal aspects of bills before they reach the House floor Before entering the legal profession and elected office Stephenson managed Hortman s first accomplished campaign for the state House in and worked as a staffer for U S Sen Amy Klobuchar before attending law school at the University of Chicago in the late s Hortman had led the House Democratic-Farmer-Labor Caucus since first as the minority party Her party elected her speaker after they won a House majority in the electoral contest and she served in that role until the beginning of this year Hortman lost the speakership after Republicans ended the DFL majority in the vote which delivered a House tied - between the parties She continued to serve as House DFL leader Hortman and her husband Mark were killed by a gunman at their home in Brooklyn Park on June The alleged shooter who faces federal and state charges also shot and injured state Sen John Hoffman DFL-Champlin and his wife Yvette at their home House DFLers are at present in the minority though the Legislature isn t scheduled to convene until February unless DFL Gov Tim Walz calls lawmakers back to the state Capitol for a special session on gun violence something he has signaled could happen in the wake of deadly shootings at a Minneapolis Catholic church and school last month The House DFL at present has seats to Republicans and that balance will remain until the Sept special voting for Hortman s former seat in House District B which includes Brooklyn Park as well as parts of Champlin and Coon Rapids It s widely expected that the DFL candidate Xp Lee will win that race and return the balance to - Related Articles Joe Soucheray To keep each other safe we ll pray with our feet Letters Any law short of banning all semi-automatic weapons would be pointless Instead Doherty Thiemann Let s approach the gun argument differently this time Minnesota State Auditor Julie Blaha won t seek reelection Metro mayors seek local gun control powers as Walz plans special session