March of the Governors: Mark Dayton

Mark Dayton, Minnesota’s fortieth governor, was the oldest to assume that office for the first time at sixty-three. He stepped into the role with vast political experience. In the 1970s, he served as legislative aide and Minnesota Economic Development commissioner and later worked four years as state auditor and six as a US senator. He won elections easily and had also been trounced. Dayton was born into wealth—an heir to the Dayton’s department store fortune—and enjoyed a private school education at Breck School and Yale. His family impressed upon him that with wealth came the responsibility to serve the public. Dayton took this charge seriously.

In his eight years as governor (2011-2019), he faced an uncooperative Republican legislature for six of those years. He also inherited a projected deficit of over $6 billion. He used his veto power ninety-five times and presided over an elimination of the deficit, substantial increases of funding for K-12 education, big increases in the minimum wage, an additional tax bracket for high incomes, and construction of a new Vikings US Bank Stadium. Dayton was an unapologetic big-government liberal, and the first Minnesota Democrat to pass the governorship, by election, to another Minnesota Democrat.