Mark Dayton
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| Mark Dayton | |
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| In office January 3, 2001 – January 3, 2007 |
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| Preceded by | Rod Grams |
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| Succeeded by | Amy Klobuchar |
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| Born | January 26, 1947 Minneapolis, Minnesota |
| Political party | Democratic-Farmer-Labor |
| Spouse | Alida Rockefeller (divorced) |
| Religion | Presbyterian |
Mark Brandt Dayton (born January 26, 1947) was a Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party U.S. Senator from Minnesota who served from 2001 to 2007 in the 107th, 108th, and 109th Congresses.
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[edit] Personal Background
Dayton was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota to Gwendolen May Brandt and Bruce Bliss Dayton.[1] He is a great grandson of George Dayton. He graduated cum laude Yale University, 1969, where he excelled both academically and athletically, starting as goalie for Yale's varsity hockey team. He also joined Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity, whose membership at the time included George W. Bush, and Wolf's Head Society. He worked as a teacher in New York City. He was an unsuccessful candidate for the United States Senate in 1982. Dayton had served as a legislative assistant to Senator Walter Mondale. He was Minnesota state auditor, 1991–1995 and elected to the United States Senate in 2000. He defeated Republican incumbent Rod Grams. Dayton's ex-wife, Alida Rockefeller Messinger, is the sister of fellow U.S. Senator Jay Rockefeller.
He has two sons from his previous marriage.
[edit] U.S. Senate
Dayton, an heir to the Dayton's Department Store fortune, financed his 2000 Senate campaign with $12 million of his own money, but stated he would not do the same for future campaigns.
In October 2004, Dayton closed his Washington office until the November elections, citing reports of a possible terrorist attack. Every other senator chose to keep their office open, and Dayton received national scrutiny, as well as some criticism, for his move. Dayton explained that he was not planning to be in Washington during this time, and it would be unfair of him to subject his staff and visitors to the risk. Already considered a vulnerable incumbent, by the next year his approval ratings had declined by double digits.
On February 9, 2005 he announced that he would not run for re-election, stating, "Everything I've worked for, and everything I believe in, depends upon this Senate seat remaining in the Democratic caucus in 2007. I do not believe that I am the best candidate to lead the DFL Party to victory next year." [2] Dayton's approval ratings rose significantly after deciding not to run[citation needed]. Dayton was succeeded by Amy Klobuchar, another DFLer.
On September 22, 2005, the forty-fourth anniversary of the day President John F. Kennedy signed the Peace Corps into law, Dayton became the first U.S. senator to introduce legislation creating a Department of Peace. At the same time, similar legislation was introduced in the House by Congressman Dennis Kucinich and sixty cosponsors.
In April 2006, Dayton was selected by Time as one of "America's Five Worst Senators." The magazine dubbed him "The Blunderer" for "erratic behavior" such as his closure of his office in 2004.[2]
In September 2006, Dayton requested a review of the Rogers, Minnesota tornado[3] to determine whether the National Weather Service had acted properly. The claims of personnel failure were later found to be unfounded in the NWS Service Assessment.[4]
[edit] Ratings
He received a 90 percent progressive rating from a self-described non-partisan group that provides a "searchable database of Congressional voting records from a Progressive perspective."[5] And he scored a 9 percent conservative rating by the conservative group SBE Council.[6] In contrast, Minnesota's Class 2 senator Norm Coleman received a score of 14 percent progressive and 73 percent conservative by the same groups.[5][6]
[edit] Lawsuit against Dayton reaches U.S. Supreme Court
Dayton is the defendant in a 2003 wrongful termination lawsuit — officially entitled Office of Senator Mark Dayton v. Brad Hanson — that was appealed to the United States Supreme Court. Oral arguments were heard on April 24, 2007. At issue in the case is whether a U.S. Senator can be sued for wrongful termination or if such legal actions are barred by the Constitution's "speech or debate" clause, which protects lawmakers from having legislative work questioned by courts. [3]. The Supreme Court ruled (8 to 0) that it lacked jurisdiction to hear the appeal and dismissed the case without reaching the merits. For a summary of the case, see Oyez (http://www.oyez.org/cases/2000-2009/2006/2006_06_618/), which has oral arguments, parties briefings, written opinion, etc. For additional commentary, see ScotusBlog (http://www.scotusblog.com/wp/commentary-and-analysis/blog-round-up-dayton-v-hanson/)
[edit] Electoral history
- 2000 Race for U.S. Senate
- Mark Dayton (DFL), 49%
- Rod Grams (R) (inc.), 43%
- Jim Gibson (I), 6%
- 2000 Race for U.S. Senate - Democratic Primary
- Mark Dayton (DFL), 41%
- Mike Ciresi (DFL), 22%
- Jerry Janezich (DFL), 21%
- Rebecca Yanisch (DFL), 15%
- Others, 1%
- 1998 Race for Governor — Democratic Primary
- Skip Humphrey (DFL), 37%
- Mike Freeman (DFL), 19%
- Doug Johnson (DFL), 19%
- Mark Dayton (DFL), 18%
- Ted Mondale (DFL), 7%
- 1990 Race for State Auditor
- Mark Dayton (DFL), 58%
- Bob Heinrich (R), 42%
- 1982 Race for U.S. Senate
- David Durenberger (R) (inc.), 53%
- Mark Dayton (DFL), 47%
- 1982 Race for U.S. Senate — Democratic Primary
- Mark Dayton (DFL), 69%
- Eugene McCarthy (DFL), 24%
[edit] Footnotes
- ^ 1
- ^ Massimo Calabresi and Perry Bacon, Jr., "Mark Dayton: The Blunderer", Time Magazine, April 24, 2006, page 32.
- ^ Associated Press, "Dayton Calls for Rogers tornado investigation", Star Tribune, September 19, 2006
- ^ NWS, [1], NWS Service Assesment of September 16, 2006 Rogers, MN Tornado
- ^ a b Leading with the Left. Progressive Punch. Retrieved on 2006-11-02.
- ^ a b Congressional Voting Scorecard 2005 (pdf). SBE Council’s Congressional Voting Scorecard 2005. Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council (June, 2006). Retrieved on 2006-11-02.
[edit] External links
- Mark Dayton at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
- Dayton Closes Washington Office
- 2006 Minnesota Senate Candidate List from VIS
- OnTheIssues
- Voting record maintained by the Washington Post
| Political offices | ||
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| Preceded by Arne Carlson |
State Auditor of Minnesota 1991–1995 |
Succeeded by Judi Dutcher |
| Preceded by Rod Grams |
United States Senator (Class 1) from Minnesota 2001–2007 Served alongside: Paul Wellstone, Dean Barkley, Norm Coleman |
Succeeded by Amy Klobuchar |
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