section_path: Early life and education
section_name: Early life and education
paragraph_text: Early life and education
  
  Hortman was born Melissa Anne Haluptzok in Fridley, Minnesota, on May 27, 1970. She grew up in Spring Lake Park and Andover, and became interested in being a politician at age ten, while watching coverage of the 1980 presidential election. She graduated from Blaine High School in Blaine, Minnesota, in 1988.
  
  Hortman received a Bachelor of Arts (magna cum laude) with a major in philosophy and political science from Boston University in 1991, a Juris Doctor (cum laude) from the University of Minnesota Law School in 1995, and a Master in Public Administration from Harvard Kennedy School in 2018.
  
  Hortman was born Melissa Anne Haluptzok in Fridley, Minnesota, on May 27, 1970. She grew up in Spring Lake Park and Andover, and became interested in being a politician at age ten, while watching coverage of the 1980 presidential election. She graduated from Blaine High School in Blaine, Minnesota, in 1988.
  
  Hortman received a Bachelor of Arts (magna cum laude) with a major in philosophy and political science from Boston University in 1991, a Juris Doctor (cum laude) from the University of Minnesota Law School in 1995, and a Master in Public Administration from Harvard Kennedy School in 2018.