David Joseph Tomassoni ( ; December 5, 1952 – August 11, 2022) was an American politician who served in the

Minnesota Legislature The Minnesota Legislature is the bicameral legislature of the U.S. state of Minnesota consisting of two houses: the Senate and the House of Representatives. Senators are elected from 67 single-member districts. In order to account for decenn ...

from 1993 to 2022. A former member of the

Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party The Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party (DFL) is a political party in the U.S. state of Minnesota affiliated with the national Democratic Party. The party was formed by a merger between the Minnesota Democratic Party and the Minneso ...

(DFL), Tomassoni left the party to become independent in November 2020 and joined the Minnesota Senate Republican Caucus. Tomassoni chaired the Senate Economic Development Committee from 2007 to 2010. He then chaired the Environment, Economic Development and Agriculture Finance Division, co-chaired the Legislative-Citizen Commission on Minnesota Resources
LCCMR
, and chaired the Iron Range Resources & Rehabilitation Board (IRRRB) four times. Tomassoni was also vice chair of th
Minnesota Amateur Sports Commission.

Early life, education, and career

Tomassoni was born in

Bemidji, Minnesota Bemidji ( ) is a city and the county seat of Beltrami County, Minnesota, Beltrami County, in northern Minnesota, United States. The population was 14,574 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. According to 2022 census estimates, the ci ...

. He graduated from Chisholm High School in

Chisholm, Minnesota Chisholm is a city in St. Louis County, Minnesota, St. Louis County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 4,775 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. The city has been called "The Heart of the Iron Range" due to its location i ...

and received a BSBA from the

University of Denver The University of Denver (DU) is a private research university in Denver, Colorado, United States. Founded in 1864, it has an enrollment of approximately 5,700 undergraduate students and 7,200 graduate students. It is classified among "R1: D ...

. Tomassoni played

professional hockey Professional sports, Professional ice hockey (hockey) is the competition of ice hockey in which participants are paid to play. Professional competition began in North America in the United States—in Pennsylvania and Michigan—and in Canada aro ...

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

for 16 years and for the Italian national team at the

1984 Winter Olympics The 1984 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XIV Olympic Winter Games (Serbo-Croatian language, Serbo-Croatian and Slovene language, Slovene: ; Serbian Cyrillic alphabet, Serbian Cyrillic: ; ) and commonly known as Sarajevo '84 (Serbian Cy ...

Minnesota House of Representatives

Tomassoni represented District 5B in the

Minnesota House of Representatives The Minnesota House of Representatives is the lower chamber of the U.S. state of Minnesota's Minnesota Legislature, legislature. It operates in conjunction with the Minnesota Senate, the state's upper chamber, to write and pass legislation, whic ...

from 1993 to 2001. He served as an assistant majority leader from 1997 to 2001.

Minnesota Senate

Tomassoni was elected to the Senate in 2000 and reelected in 2002, 2006, 2010, 2012, 2016, and 2020. He was a

majority whip A whip is an official of a political party whose task is to ensure party discipline (that members of the party vote according to the party platform rather than their constituents, individual conscience or donors) in a legislature. Whips a ...

from 2001 to 2007.

President of the Minnesota Senate

Tomassoni was elected

president of the Minnesota Senate The president of the Minnesota Senate is the presiding officer of the Minnesota Senate. Until 1973, the lieutenant governor served as the Senate president. Since then, presidents have been elected by the body, usually at the nomination of the ma ...

on November 12, 2020, in a rare event where the Senate's Republican majority supported a member of the DFL for Senate president. The move was seen as strategic, given that the slim Republican majority in the Senate could be lost if the Senate president became lieutenant governor. That happened in 2018, when Senate President

Michelle Fischbach Michelle Louise Helene Fischbach (; born November 3, 1965) is an American politician and attorney serving since 2021 as the United States Representative, U.S. representative from Minnesota's 7th congressional district. The district, which is heav ...

became lieutenant governor after

Tina Smith Christine Elizabeth Smith (née Flint, born March 4, 1958) is an American politician, retired Democratic political consultant, and former businesswoman serving as the Seniority in the United States Senate, junior United States Senate, United Sta ...

was appointed to the U.S. Senate. Three weeks after the

2020 elections The following elections were scheduled to occur in 2020. The International Foundation for Electoral Systems maintains a comprehensive list of upcoming elections on its E-Guide Platform. The National Democratic Institute also maintains a calend ...

, when it was determined that the DFL had not won a Senate majority, Tomassoni and Senator

Thomas Bakk Thomas M. Bakk ( ; born June 8, 1954) is a Minnesota politician. He served in the Minnesota Legislature from 1995 to 2023 and is a former majority leader and minority leader. Early life, education, and career Bakk was born and raised in Cook, ...

announced they had left the DFL to form their own "Independent Caucus." Republican Majority Leader

Paul Gazelka Paul E. Gazelka ( ; born October 1, 1959) is an American politician and small business owner from Minnesota. A Republican, Gazelka was a member of the Minnesota Senate and was previously a member of the Minnesota House of Representatives. In the ...

welcomed the move and made Tomassoni chair of the Higher Education Finance and Policy Committee in exchange for voting with Republicans on floor votes. This changed the Senate's composition to 34 Republicans, 31 Democrats, and two independents.

Electoral history

Personal life and death

Tomassoni and his wife, Charlotte, have three children and lived in

. He was involved in the insurance business. In July 2021, Tomassoni announced he had been diagnosed with

amyotrophic lateral sclerosis Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as motor neuron disease (MND) or—in the United States—Lou Gehrig's disease (LGD), is a rare, Terminal illness, terminal neurodegenerative disease, neurodegenerative disorder that results i ...

.Sen. Tomassoni on figuring out how to move forward with ALS
/ref> Tomassoni died of ALS at a hospice in

Duluth, Minnesota Duluth ( ) is a Port, port city in the U.S. state of Minnesota and the county seat of St. Louis County, Minnesota, St. Louis County. Located on Lake Superior in Minnesota's Arrowhead Region, the city is a hub for cargo shipping. The population ...

, on August 11, 2022.

References

External links

Senator David Tomassoni
''official Minnesota Senate website''
Minnesota Public Radio Votetracker: Senator Dave TomassoniSenator David Tomassoni
''official campaign website'' * , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Tomassoni, David 1952 births 2022 deaths American athlete-politicians American people of Italian descent Businesspeople from Minnesota Deaths from motor neuron disease in Minnesota Denver Pioneers men's ice hockey players HC Gardena players HC Merano players HC Milano players HC Varese players Ice hockey players from Minnesota Ice hockey players at the 1984 Winter Olympics American expatriate ice hockey players in Italy Members of the Minnesota House of Representatives Minnesota Democrats Minnesota independents Minnesota state senators New Haven Nighthawks players Olympic ice hockey players for Italy People from Bemidji, Minnesota People from Chisholm, Minnesota Presidents of the Minnesota Senate Ritten Sport players Naturalised citizens of Italy American ice hockey defensemen Italian ice hockey defencemen Democratic Party members of the Minnesota House of Representatives Democratic Party Minnesota state senators 21st-century members of the Minnesota Legislature