Dayton, Mark (1947-…), a Democrat, served as governor of Minnesota from 2011 to 2019. The Democratic Party is called the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party (DFL) in Minnesota. Dayton was a United States senator representing Minnesota from 2001 to 2007.
In the Senate, Dayton supported measures to give people greater access to affordable health-care coverage. He also supported giving senior citizens Medicare coverage for all prescription drugs. In 2000, he organized the “Rx Express,” a program that chartered buses to shuttle the elderly from Minnesota to Canada, where prescription medications were much cheaper. Dayton also set up a health-care hotline to help people settle disputes with their insurance companies.
Mark Brandt Dayton was born in Minneapolis on Jan. 26, 1947. He graduated from Yale University in 1969. He was a schoolteacher and worked in social service until 1975, when he became a legislative assistant to then-Senator Walter Mondale.
Dayton held many public offices in Minnesota, serving as commissioner of economic development in 1978, commissioner of energy and economic development from 1983 to 1986, and state auditor from 1991 to 1995. In 1995 and 1996, he worked on the reelection campaign for Senator Paul Wellstone, serving as finance chair and campaign cochair. In 1998, Dayton ran for governor of Minnesota but was defeated in the primary. In 2000, he won election to the Senate, beating incumbent Rod Grams. Dayton, a multimillionaire who inherited his wealth from the Dayton Hudson retail store chain (now Target Corp.), spent more than $11 million of his own money on his campaign. His opponents charged that such lavish spending gave him an unfair advantage.
Dayton did not seek reelection to the Senate in 2006, and he retired from office when his term ended in January 2007. Dayton became governor of Minnesota after a close 2010 election that triggered a statewide recount. He was reelected in 2014. Dayton did not seek reelection in 2018.
