Senjem says Brodkorb in his prayers

Senate Majority Leader Dave Senjem said he was saddened to hear that former Senate staffer Michael Brodkorb had been in a serious car crash Wednesday night.

According to the St. Paul Pioneer Press, Brodkorb was listed in critical condition this morning at Regions Hospital in St. Paul after his car crashed into the wall of the Minnesota 13 bridge on northbound I-35E last night. Brodkorb was fired from the Senate in December 2011 after having an affair with then-Senate Majority Leader Amy Koch.

Then-Senate Majority Leader Dave Senjem, R-Rochester, hired Brodkorb as the Republican caucus' communications director.

"There is a lot of water over the dam since then, but I still respect Michael as a person," Senjem said. "Hopefully he is going to recover and certainly his family and children are in our thoughts and our prayers are with him through this ordeal. " It’s not something you would hope for anybody. It’s another I think unfortunate chapter in what has been frankly part of his life over the past year."