David Tomassoni
David Joseph Tomassoni (born December 5, 1952) is a Minnesota politician and member of the Minnesota Senate. He represents District 6, which includes parts of Itasca and St. Louis counties in northeastern Minnesota. A former member of the Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party (DFL), Tomassoni left the party to become independent in November 2020, but is a member of the Minnesota Senate Republican Caucus. Tomassoni chaired the Senate Economic Development Committee from 2007 to 2010. He now chairs the Environment, Economic Development and Agriculture Finance Division, co-chairs the Legislative-Citizen Commission on Minnesota Resources (LCCMR), and has  chaired the Iron Range Resources & Rehabilitation Board (IRRRB) four times. Tomassoni is also vice chair of the Minnesota Amateur Sports Commission. Early life, education, and career. Tomassoni graduated from Chisholm High School in Chisholm and received a B.S.B.A. from the University of Denver. He played professional hockey in Italy for 16 years and for the Italian national team at the 1984 Winter Olympics. Minnesota House of Representatives. Tomassoni represented District 5B in the Minnesota House of Representatives 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 from 2001 to 2007. President of the Minnesota Senate. Tomassoni was elected president of the Minnesota Senate 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 Republican's slim majority in the state senate could be lost if the senate president becomes lieutenant governor. That happened in 2018, when Senate President Michelle Fischbach became lieutenant governor following Tina Smith's  appointment to the U.S. Senate. Three weeks after the 2020 elections, when it was determined that the DFL did not win a majority in the Senate, Tomassoni and Senator Thomas Bakk announced they had left the DFL party to form their own "Independent Caucus." Republican Majority Leader Paul Gazelka welcomed the move and made Tomassoni the 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. Personal life. Tomassoni and his wife, Charlotte, have three children. In July  2021, Tomassoni announced he had been diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.