State Senator John Jasinski (Faribault) today issued the following statement in response to an announcement by Senator David Tomassoni (Chisholm) and Senator Tom Bakk (Cook) that they were leaving the Senate DFL Caucus and will be forming a new Independent Caucus.

“Senator Tomassoni is one of my good friends here at the capitol, and I have worked closely with both he and Senator Bakk for the last four years on a range of issues. Despite us being from different political parties, we have a lot in common because we represent communities outside the metro. We share many of the same goals and strengths, and we have worked across the aisle together countless times to get things done for Minnesotans. It is that shared spirit of bipartisanship that has led to so many successes. There will always be outliers on both extremes who are angry, but if we can keep 80% or 90% of the people happy then that’s a good day’s work. 

I am happy for both of them, and I welcome the new Independent Caucus to the Senate. I look forward to continuing our close relationship and delivering results for the people we represent.”