Downtown Minneapolis post office officially changes name to honor late congressman Martin Olav Sabo
The new plaque was unveiled Monday, after the name was signed into law in 2022
Minneapolis Main Post Office — the iconic downtown building that has been around since the 1930s — has officially been renamed the Martin Olav Sabo Post Office, with a new plaque unveiled at a celebration Monday.
The name change honors the late congressman, who died in 2016. He served nearly three decades as a U.S. Representative in Minnesota’s Fifth Congressional District before retiring in 2006. He was 78.
“Through this act, we ensure his legacy of service and dedication remains eternally woven into the fabric of the city,” said U.S. Postal Service MN-ND District Manager Angela Bye at a ceremony that included Sabo’s old colleagues and family members.
In 2022, the name change was signed into law, following bipartisan support for bills authored by U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar and U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar in the House and Senate, respectively. Both legislators, along with U.S. Rep. Betty McCollum, who worked alongside Sabo, spoke at the ceremony, donning blue “Sabo Congress” campaign stickers.
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They remembered him as a congressman who was able to work across the aisle, deliver millions in federal funding for major local infrastructure projects and push for causes ahead of his time — such as supporting same sex marriage and reproductive rights when most Americans didn’t.
Klobuchar said Sabo was someone “who would just get things done” — securing funding for projects for the Minneapolis VA Center, affordable housing units at Heritage Park, the downtown federal courthouse and the Hiawatha Avenue light rail line, now called the blue line.
She also reflected on how Sabo changed the “trajectory” of her early career by lending her credibility and mentorship. When she first ran, Sabo let Klobuchar add her name to campaign lawn signs, she said.
It was “something that clearly didn’t really help him very much, but was a major game changer for me,” she said. “And given that I won by less than nine votes per precinct, we can say those lawn signs might have made the difference.”
Omar, who serves in the seat the North Dakota native held for 28 years, said the Martin Olav Sabo Post Office was where her dad worked for almost two decades.
“Above all, Congressman Sabo celebrated Minnesota’s diversity as a source of strength and championed immigrant communities,” Omar said. “His real legacy lies in the countless lives he touched, the communities he uplifted and the example of integrity he set for all of us in public service.”
McCollum, who Sabo jokingly called his “twin” as another Norwegian legislator from Minnesota, called the renaming “a fitting tribute to a beautiful person, to have such a beautiful building.”
She remembers his Scandinavian demeanor, a quiet civility that made him and former U.S. Rep. Collin Peterson, a fellow Minnesotan, stand out. When he spoke in caucus, the room would go quiet, she said, because he wasn’t typically the center of attention.
“And people would try to figure out what’s going on with Martin and Collin. Are they happy? Are they mad?” joked McCollum, sharing an instance when then Speaker Nancy Pelosi couldn’t quite gauge their stoicism. “I said ‘No, it’s okay. They’re not really happy with it, but they’re fine. Collin’s fine and I actually think Martin’s over the moon. He’s really happy.”
When Pelosi asked how he knew, McCollum responded, “Because I’m Norwegian,” McCollum said.
When Sabo announced his retirement at the end of a 46-year political career, he said shepherding the 1993 federal budget as House Budget Committee chairman was one of his proudest accomplishments. He took pride in never publicly disparaging another politician.
The Democratic congressman's longtime friend and Chief of Staff Mike Erlandson spoke at the ceremony as well.
“He probably would have been the one dissenting vote in Congress had he known in advance that this building would be named for him,” Erlandson said. “But you know, this is a big strong building and it kind of makes you think of Martin Sabo. It’s also full of people that are working in good jobs with good benefits. And I think he’d be very proud of that.”