page_title: Mark Dayton
section_title: U.S. Senate
hierarchical_section_title: Mark Dayton / U.S. Senate
context_page_description: Mark Brandt Dayton is an American politician who served as the 40th governor of Minnesota from 2011 to 2019. He was a United States Senator for Minnesota from 2001 to 2007, and the Minnesota State Auditor from 1991 to 1995. He is a member of the Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party, which affiliates with the national Democratic Party.
  A native of Minnesota, Dayton is the great-grandson of businessman George Dayton, the founder of Dayton's, a department store that later became the Target Corporation. He embarked on a career in teaching and social work in New York City and Boston after graduating from Yale University in 1969. During the 1970s, he served as a legislative aide to U.S. Senator Walter Mondale and Minnesota Governor Rudy Perpich. In 1978, Dayton was appointed the Minnesota Economic Development Commissioner and married Alida Rockefeller Messinger, a member of the Rockefeller family.
  Dayton ran for the U.S. Senate in 1982 against Republican Party incumbent David Durenberger. He defeated former U.S. Senator Eugene McCarthy in the Democratic primary, and the general election became one of the most expensive in state history.
caption: Dayton campaigning with former Vice President Walter Mondale during his first run for the Senate in 1982.
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