MARK DAYTON:

Mark Dayton was born in Minneapolis on January 26, 1947, attended high school in Hopkins, and graduated cum laude from Yale University with a B.A. in psychology in 1969. He was a member of the Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity.

After graduating from Yale, Dayton spent two years teaching general science in the New York City school system (1969-1971) and four years in Boston (1971-1975) as a counselor for runaway youths and chief financial officer for a social service agency.

In 1975 Dayton became a legislative aide to Minnesota Senator Walter Mondale and worked at the Carter-Mondale national campaign headquarters in Atlanta for several months during 1976. Dayton joined the staff of Minnesota governor Rudy Perpich in December 1976 and was named acting commissioner of the Department of Economic Development in 1978. In early 1979 Dayton joined the Minnesota Project, an economic development and public policy organization.

Dayton first ran for the United States Senate in 1982. He easily defeated former senator Eugene McCarthy in the Democratic-Farmer-Labor primary, but lost the general election by six percentage points to Republican incumbent David Durenburger. Dayton served as Minnesota's Commissioner of Energy and Economic Development (1983-1986) and was elected State Auditor (1991-1995). He sought the Minnesota governership in 1998, but bowed out early in the race. In 2000 Dayton financed a $12 million campaign out of his own pocket and ran again for the United States Senate. This time he was successful, beating Republican incumbent Rod Grams by six percentage points. Once seated, Dayton donated his Senate salary to the Minnesota Senior Federation.

Throughout the 107th, 108th, and 109th Congresses, Dayton served on the same four Senate committees. These were the committees on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry; Armed Services; Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs; and Rules and Administration. Dayton's legislative records show that he opposed tax cuts, the invasion of Iraq, and the Federal Marriage Amendment, but supported increased prescription drug coverage for seniors and the use of ethanol and biodiesel fuels. Amid escalating homeland security concerns at the time of the 2004 elections, and although other members of Congress continued business as usual, Dayton closed his Washington, D.C. office stating that he was unwilling to subject his staff and visitors to an increased risk of terrorist attacks. In September 2005, a week after Dennis Kucinich introduced a House bill to create a cabinet-level department of peace, Dayton introduced similar legislation in the Senate.

In early 2005 Dayton announced he would not seek re-election acknowledging that he did not have the stomach for fund raising and that he might not be the best candidate for the seat. Amy Klobuchar replaced Dayton on the Democratic-Farmer-Labor ticket and defeated Republican Mark Kennedy in the 2006 election.

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Personal and political records contain biographical files covering Dayton's accomplishments, awards, and committee assignments. This series also includes Dayton's caucus files, schedules, financial disclosures, and correspondence.

Legislative records contain legislative assistant files, subject and bill files, and voting and attendance records. Legislative assistant files include materials regarding office procedures, legislative agendas, meetings, and congressional briefings. Subject files contain correspondence between Dayton, his staff, constituents, and other legislators as well as draft legislation and background information. Bill files are arranged numerically within each Congress and include bills that Dayton introduced as well as amendments and resolutions that he cosponsored. Briefing books from the Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry Committee and the Armed Services Committee are also included.

Files from Dayton's Minnesota office include staff files, briefings, weekly updates, and subject files. Files that particularly focus on the steel and taconite industry are also included.

Press and media relations include photocopied newspaper clippings regarding any number of topics as well as press coverage regarding Dayton's activities. Press releases, statements, and speeches are also included.

Office administration files contain brochures, staff information, job descriptions, organizational charts, office manuals, and Dayton's travel files.

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These documents are organized into the following series:

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Availability:

The collection is open for research use.

Use Restrictions:

Mark Dayton retains copyright in the papers. News releases, newspaper clippings, photographs, commonly available publications, and like material of a public nature are excluded from this restriction. For further information concerning copyright status and/or permission to publish, please consult the reference staff.

Preferred Citation:

[Indicate the cited item and/or series here]. Mark Dayton Senatorial Files. Minnesota Historical Society.

See the Chicago Manual of Style for additional examples.

Accession Information:

Accession number: 16,255

Processing Information:

Processed by: Richard Arpi, October-December 2008.

Catalog ID number: 006778895

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Legislative Assistant Files

Legislative Subject Files, 107th Congress, 2001-2002.

Legislative Subject Files, 108th Congress, 2003-2004.

Legislative Subject Files, 109th Congress, 2005-2006.

Bill Files, 107th Congress, 2001-2002.

Bill Files, 108th Congress, 2003-2004.

Bill Files, 109th Congress, 2005-2006.

Briefing Books:

Voting Record

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This collection is indexed under the following headings in the catalog of the Minnesota Historical Society. Researchers desiring materials about related topics, persons or places should search the catalog using these headings.

Topics:

Agricultural laws and legislation -- United States.

Bills, Legislative.

Criminal law.

Economic development -- Minnesota.

Educational law and legislation -- United States.

Energy conservation -- Law and legislation.

Legislation -- United States.

Same-sex marriage -- Law and legislation.

Social legislation.

Steel industry and trade -- Minnesota.

Organizations:

Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party.

DFL House and Senate Caucus (Minn.)

United States. Congress. Senate. Committee on Armed Services.

United States. Congress. Senate. Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry.

United States. Congress. Senate. Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs.

United States. Congress. Senate. Committee on Rules and Administration.

United States. Congress. Senate.

Occupations:

Politicians -- Minnesota

Legislators -- Minnesota

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