Longtime Iron Range lawmaker David Tomassoni has died at 69 after a battle with ALS, the Minnesota Senate announced Friday morning, Aug. 12. Tomassoni, an independent lawmaker from Chisholm, was first elected to the Minnesota House of Representatives in 1992. He was elected to the Senate in 2000, where he served the rest of his time in the Legislature.

Tomassoni revealed his diagnosis with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS, in 2021, and continued to serve as a senator. In his last session at the Capitol, he sponsored a bill to provide $20 million in grants for ALS research and $5 million to caregiving for people suffering from the disease. The bill passed unanimously in the House and Senate and was signed into law by Gov. Tim Walz this spring.