Thomas M. Bakk ( ; born June 8, 1954) is a

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...

politician and member of the

Minnesota Senate The Minnesota Senate is the upper house of the Legislature of the U.S. state of Minnesota. At 67 members, half as many as the Minnesota House of Representatives, it is the largest upper house of any U.S. state legislature. Floor sessions are h ...

. Currently independent and a former member of the

Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party The Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party (DFL) is the Minnesota affiliate of the U.S. Democratic Party. As of 2022, it controls four of Minnesota's eight U.S. House seats, both of its U.S. Senate seats, the Minnesota House of Repr ...

, Bakk represents District 3, which includes portions of

Cook Cook or The Cook may refer to: Food preparation * Cooking, the preparation of food * Cook (domestic worker), a household staff member who prepares food * Cook (professional), an individual who prepares food for consumption in the food industry * ...

, Koochiching,

Lake A lake is an area filled with water, localized in a basin, surrounded by land, and distinct from any river or other outlet that serves to feed or drain the lake. Lakes lie on land and are not part of the ocean, although, like the much large ...

and

St. Louis St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...

counties in the northeastern part of Minnesota. He has served in the Minnesota legislature since 1995 and is a former

majority leader In U.S. politics (as well as in some other countries utilizing the presidential system), the majority floor leader is a partisan position in a legislative body.

and minority leader.

Early life, education, and career

Bakk was born and raised in

Cook, Minnesota Cook is a city in Saint Louis County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 515 at the 2010 census. U.S. Highway 53 and State Highway 1 (MN 1) are the two main routes through the city. Cook serves as the gateway to the western half of ...

, where he graduated from Cook High School in 1972. He received an associate degree from Mesabi Community College and a

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ...

in business administration and labor relations from the

University of Minnesota Duluth The University of Minnesota Duluth (UMD) is a public university in Duluth, Minnesota. It is part of the University of Minnesota system and offers 16 bachelor's degrees in 88 Academic major, majors, graduate programs in 25 different fields, and a ...

. He is a retired union carpenter and labor official.

Political career

Minnesota House of Representatives

Bakk represented District 6A in the

Minnesota House of Representatives The Minnesota House of Representatives is the lower house of the Legislature of the U.S. state of Minnesota. There are 134 members, twice as many as the Minnesota Senate. Floor sessions are held in the north wing of the State Capitol in Saint ...

from 1995 to 2003.

Minnesota Senate

Bakk was first elected to the

in 2002 and was re-elected in 2006, 2010, 2012, and 2016. After the 2010 election, in which Republicans gained control of the Senate for the first time since party designation, Bakk was elected by his caucus to serve as its first-ever minority leader. After the DFL regained a majority in the

2012 election This national electoral calendar for 2012 lists the national/ federal elections held in 2012 in all sovereign states and their dependent territories. By-elections are excluded, though national referendums are included. January *3–4 January: ...

, Bakk was elected by his caucus to serve as

majority leader In U.S. politics (as well as in some other countries utilizing the presidential system), the majority floor leader is a partisan position in a legislative body.

, a position he assumed when the legislature convened on January 8, 2013. Bakk was again elected by his caucus to serve as minority leader following the 2016 election, which saw Republicans re-gain control of the upper chamber. In late 2019, it was reported that Susan Kent, a state senator from Woodbury, intended to challenge Bakk for his caucus leadership post. On February 1, 2020, in a caucus meeting that lasted more than six hours, Kent defeated Bakk, succeeding him as minority leader. Three weeks after the 2020 elections, when it was determined that the DFL did not win a majority in the Senate, Bakk and fellow DFL state senator David Tomassoni announced they would no longer caucus with Democrats and instead 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 s ...

welcomed the move and gave Bakk the chairmanship to the Capital Investment in exchange for voting in line with the Republican Party on floor votes. This changed the composition of the Senate to 34 Republicans, 31 Democrats, and two independents. In March 2022, Bakk announced he was not seeking re-election to the State Senate and would retire from politics at the end of the year.

2010 Minnesota gubernatorial campaign

Tom Bakk - DFL Gubernatorial Debate (4135227616)

Bakk campaigned in the

2010 Minnesota gubernatorial election The 2010 Minnesota gubernatorial election was held on Tuesday, November 2, 2010 to elect the 40th Governor of the U.S. state of Minnesota for a four-year term to begin in January 2011. The general election was contested by the major party candi ...

. He led in early fundraising among the DFL candidates, raising $146,000 in 2008, and beginning 2009 with a little more than $131,000. He ended his campaign in March 2010.

Electoral history

Personal life

Bakk and his wife, Laura, who works as a legislative assistant in the Minnesota Senate, have four children.

References

External links

Official Minnesota Senate website
, - , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Bakk, Thomas 1954 births Living people 21st-century American politicians American Lutherans Members of the Minnesota House of Representatives Minnesota Democrats Minnesota Independents Minnesota state senators People from Cook County, Minnesota People from Virginia, Minnesota University of Minnesota Duluth alumni