Aug. 12, 2022 Longtime state Senator David Tomassoni has died after a bout with ALS at age 69. The Iron Range lawmaker had been in the Legislature since 1993, the last 22 years in the state Senate. His health had been declining since being diagnosed last year with ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease. Lawmakers approved a new ALS research and caregiver support program at his urging during the recent session. Close friend and fellow Sen. Tom Bakk says he visited with Tomassoni hours before he died. “It’s a big loss for the Senate to lose somebody who always overcame partisanship. I often described his office as a gathering place. It didn’t matter whether you were a Republican or a Democrat. It was David’s office where people got together to kind of jawbone about what was going on."
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