Petition seeks to name Minnesota State Office Building after slain Rep. Melissa Hortman
While construction continues on the Minnesota State Office Building, online, a movement is growing to rename the building after the late Rep. Melissa Hortman.
The grassroots online petition has picked up more than 500 signatures as of Wednesday evening.
Hortman spent two decades serving in the legislature, bringing grace to gridlock at the Capitol.
Jodi Anderson-Wolhaupter and her husband, John Wolhaupter, say Hortman always listened to the educators over the years about education funding.
"She had that way of knowing her constituents' issues and really represented us well," Wolhaupter said.
The Wolhaupters say it will remind Minnesotans to be generous neighbors and always search for the humanity in others, like Hortman did.
"We really see this renaming effort as a way to bring that feeling to the Capitol complex over time," Wolhaupter said. "It will also remind everyone who visits or works in that building we need to be our best selves."
This wouldn't be the first time Minnesota named a property after a politician. Former Gov. Harold Stassen has the Department of Revenue Building and earlier this year, a bridge was renamed after the late Sen. Kari Dziedzic.
Brooklyn Park city officials are also discussing the possibility of creating a memorial to honor the Hortmans, but ultimately said any memorial would need to include input from their family.
The organizers have reached out to lawmakers and are calling on them to join the movement and rename the building after the woman they say helped shape history.
To learn more about the petition, click here.