After assassination attempt, Minnesota Sen. John Hoffman remains committed to public service
The bullet holes that pierced the front door to State Sen. John Hoffman's Champlin, Minnesota, home served as a stark reminder of the unthinkable act of political violence he and his family endured in the early morning hours of June 14 last year.
Seven months later, that door has since been replaced. They haven't moved away, which Hoffman said comes as a surprise to many.
And he isn't leaving political life, either.
In his first interview with WCCO News since that attack by an accused assassin left him and his wife with a combined 17 bullet wounds, Hoffman is undeterred and determined to continue serving in the Minnesota Legislature, returning to the State Capitol for the legislative session next month and announcing his bid for reelection.
"It's the crossroads of life, and it's either withdraw or get engaged — and everything that was just happening to people outside that I could have an influence on, I needed to stay engaged," Hoffman said Monday. "Talking with my family, my friends, other colleagues, I had people say to me, you know, 'Your voice is missing. We need your voice again.'"
His sense of safety has undeniably changed since that night, and he now describes being in recovery — a process that he said is neither linear nor complete.
Vance Boelter, 58, faces federal murder, stalking and firearms charges for shooting the Hoffmans and killing former DFL House Speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband Mark, who were shot dead at their Brooklyn Park, Minnesota, home 90 minutes later. His arrest nearly two days after the attacks was the culmination of what authorities said was the largest state manhunt in history.
"What I'm learning in this justice thing is that feds have their slow way of doing their business, and the state has issued their stuff," Hoffman said. "My justice and my family's justice is going to be the best we can be, to be re-engaged, to create good policy, to be involved, and to be alive."
The DFL state senator also addressed for the first time misinformation spreading on social media in recent months since the shootings. Among the conspiracy theories circulating online are Boelter's claims, according to writings authorities obtained from his vehicle, that Gov. Tim Walz ordered the attacks, which the former top federal prosecutor called a "delusion" designed to conceal the crimes.
President Trump recently shared on his own social media platform a video reviving that falsehood, as well as another debunked claim that Hortman was murdered for one of the final votes she took in the Legislature before her death. Authorities say Boelter targeted other lawmakers that night and had a hit list with several Democratic elected officials on it.
Hoffman said those posts traumatize him and his family all over again.
"It re-triggers the obsession this individual had toward Melissa Hortman. It re-triggers the fact that I survived, my wife survived and my daughter survived. It re-triggers that moment and it re-triggers those feelings," he explained. "When people are that selfish that they do their keyboard courage — not okay. It's hurtful. It's dehumanizing beyond. We've got to get back to treating people like people."
Remembering Melissa Hortman, rebuilding relationships in politics
Hortman's state House district is one of two in Hoffman's state Senate district, so they served the same constituents. He affectionately called her his "political kid sister," whom he said was destined for great things.
"Fierce advocate for people in our district — absolutely a fierce advocate. Hardest working person I've ever met. She wanted to go, let's go. She was taking you with her," Hoffman said.
In his office hangs a photo of her and the late Senate Majority Leader Kari Dziedzic. The pair led the Democrats' majorities in 2023 and 2024, during which the Legislature passed sweeping progressive policies.
"I could disagree with [Hortman] — and I disagreed with her a lot. She was the B-side of the senate district. But it wasn't personal. Man, I loved her deeply. I can't believe she's gone," he added.
In those disagreements is a lesson that Hoffman thinks is lost in politics today. At a meeting of the Democratic National Committee in Minneapolis last August, he notably declared, "We must recommit ourselves to governance over grievance."
He reflected again on those thoughts.
"Do we treat people like people? No, we're not. We're dehumanizing an individual. Once you start to dehumanize somebody, then all of a sudden, it's us versus them, and that person isn't now a person, right? And you talk about the anger — governance over grievance. Once they start having grievance, all of a sudden, there's a gap that exists. And that gap then is distrust," Hoffman said.
WCCO asked him if people with diametrically opposing views can rebuild that trust.
Hoffman thinks so if they start focusing on policy instead of making politics personal.
"[The late Sen.] David Tomassoni also taught me that same thing: be who you are, an authentic self, and get away from personalizing stuff," he said. "And so I think that's what's missing when you really look at it, and we can get back to that."