Mark Dayton

Imagine a person who was in charge of a whole state! That was Mark Dayton. He was the governor of Minnesota for eight whole years, from 2011 to 2019.

Before that, he was a United States Senator, which means he worked in Washington D.C. to help make laws for the whole country. He also used to be the Minnesota State Auditor, making sure the state's money was spent wisely. He was part of a political team called the Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party.

Did you know Mark Dayton is related to the people who started a super famous store? His great-grandfather was George Dayton, who founded Dayton's department store. That store eventually became the giant company we know today as Target!

So, Mark Dayton comes from a family that helped build big businesses. After college, he even worked as a teacher and a social worker, helping people in New York City and Boston.

As governor, Mark Dayton made some really important decisions. One of the biggest was helping to make same-sex marriage legal in Minnesota. He also helped build a brand new, super cool stadium called U.S. Bank Stadium. It's so big, it could probably fit a whole bunch of school buses inside! He decided not to run for governor a third time, which means he served his two terms and then stepped down.

Mark Dayton didn't start out wanting to be a politician. He first became a teacher and a social worker, which means he cared a lot about helping others. Then, he worked for a United States Senator and even a Minnesota Governor, learning all about how government works.

He even ran for the U.S. Senate himself and won! He learned a lot about what people needed and wanted, which helped him when he became governor.