Democrat wins special election for seat held by slain Minnesota lawmaker Melissa Hortman

Minnesota voters chose a Democratic successor Tuesday for the state House seat that had been held by Melissa Hortman, who was assassinated in June

Minnesota voters chose a Democratic successor Tuesday for the state House seat that had been held by Melissa Hortman, who was assassinated in June.

Democrat Xp Lee defeated Republican Ruth Bittner in the special election in the solidly Democratic district in the northwestern suburbs of the Twin Cities, The Associated Press projected.

Lee’s win comes three months after Hortman, a former state House speaker, and her husband were killed in what Minnesota authorities have described as a “politically motivated assassination" at their Brooklyn Park home on June 14.

Another legislator, state Sen. John Hoffman, and his wife, Yvette, were also shot in their home that evening and were severely wounded. The man who has been charged in both shootings, Vance Boelter, has pleaded not guilty to multiple counts of second-degree intentional murder and attempted murder.

The shootings led to fears among lawmakers around the country and in Washington, D.C., about their safety amid escalating political rhetoric and violent threats. Those security concerns have been raised again in recent days after the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk at a Utah college.