Michael Dayton

**Michael Litigation Dayton, Jr.** (February 12, 1958 – December 10, 1994) was an American politician who served as the U.S. Representative from the 9th district from 1993 until his death in 1994. A Democrat, Dayton previously served as the 51st Speaker of the House of Representatives in 1994 until his recall two months later and as the 43rd Governor of Wisconsin from 1990 to 1993.

An openly gay man, Dayton is the first openly gay U.S. congressman, as well as the first openly gay House speaker. He also is recognized as being the first openly gay man to have served as Governor of Wisconsin and as as a Democratic National Committee member.

After leading a recall motion against incumbent speaker Jackie Hagan, Dayton became Speaker of the House of Representatives on August 5, 1994, and resigned two months later due to a sex scandal. He was a candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination in 1996.

On December 10, 1994, Dayton was found dead on the floor of his prison cell beneath a noose he made out of his sheets. An investigation into his death revealed that Dayton snapped his neck and, after a few minutes, cracked his skull open on the corner of his metal toilet after he fell out of the noose. Dayton was 36 years old at the time of his suicide.

## Early life and education

Dayton was born on February 12, 1958 in Green Bay, Wisconsin. His mother died after complications with his birth, and his father owned and operated a small local dairy operation. After graduating from Bay Port High School in 1974, Dayton attended Texas Christian University in Fort Worth, where he received his bachelor's in economics. Afterwards, he was accepted into Harvard Law School, where he received his Juris Doctor in 1982 and a doctorate in constitutional law in 1986.

## Early career

After turning eighteen, Dayton took over his father's dairy farm. Having grown up watching his father's cows go through medical struggles, he grew it from a small dairy operation to an international dairy corporation known as Dayton Dairy Corporation, which became the first mass producer of dairy products to sell products that were completely free of the synthetic hormone bovine somatotropin prior to the banning of the hormone in the American Farming Act, which Dayton authored as a member of the House of Representatives.

## House of Representatives

### Elections

Dayton announced his candidacy for the 9th congressional district on February 16, 1992. After being nominated in an unopposed primary, he defeated Republican opponent Pat Kenny with 53.2% of the popular vote.

Dayton announced his re-election campaign on December 26, 1993. However, due to the sex scandal that led to his resignation as Speaker of the House, it is unknown whether or not Dayton will continue to seek a second term.

### Tenure

Dayton was sworn in as a member of the House of Representatives on January 3, 1993, and became House Majority Leader on the same day. He has written six bills as a member of Congress, most of which achieve government and tax reform.

As majority leader, Dayton is often accredited with assisting House speaker Jackie Hagan with day-to-day operations in the House of Representatives.

### Speaker of the House

Dayton motioned to recall Speaker Hagan on August 5, 1994, for gross negligence, obstruction of Congress, and failure to uphold her oath of office. Although the motion neither passed or failed, Hagan resigned from the House of Representatives as a result, triggering a special election for the speakership. Dayton defeated Republican congressman Jack Carnegie for the speakership and was sworn in on the same day.

Dayton's time as speaker was short-lived, however, as a major sex scandal alleging he sent nude pictures to a minor was started by many prominent Democrats, including Hillary Rodham, Casey Booker, and William Hutchins. This sex scandal triggered a recall motion against Dayton, which passed after his resignation from the office just two months after being sworn in.

Dayton was replaced as speaker by Mary Johnson on October 7, 1994.

## Sex scandal and death

Following his recall from the speakership in 1994, Dayton was arrested and taken into FBI custody following the surfacing of evidence that he had been sexually harassing minors. Despite being incarcerated in a federal prison and under investigation by the Department of Justice and the Senate Oversight Committee, Attorney General Ailani Hudson released a statement allowing Dayton to continue his service in the House of Representatives. While awaiting sentencing, Dayton was held at the United States Penitentiary in Marion, Illinois.

On December 10, 1994, Dayton was found dead in his prison cell in an apparent suicide. While the legal cause of death is suicide, doctors have made the autopsy report public, which lists his actual cause of death as a cervical fracture followed by a cerebral hemorrhage. He was 36 years old at the time of his death.

## Personal life

Dayton was married to Hillary Rodham from 1980 to 1989, when Rodham filed for divorce with Dayton in order to marry Michael Eastwood, the then-Governor of Indiana. One year later, Dayton came out as gay.