Politics and Government News

Former Gov. Mark Dayton announces marriage

A man speaks behind a podium.
Then-Gov. Mark Dayton speaks at a press conference at the Minnesota State Capitol in St. Paul in 2018. Over the weekend, Dayton announced he married Ana Orke, now Ana Dayton.
Evan Frost | MPR News 2018

Former DFL Gov. Mark Dayton announced on social media Sunday night he's newly married. He posted a picture of himself and his bride, a former campaign aide, on Facebook.

Dayton said he wed Ana Orke, now Ana Dayton, who worked on his 2010 election campaign. He said they'd lost touch but met again several years ago.

Dayton was single for the last two decades.

Dayton noted that his wife is 32 years old, 41 years his junior.

He said they were surprised by their mutual feelings for each other, despite the gap in their ages, but that “as we grew to know each other, we realized that the love binding us is far deeper and more meaningful than the years that separate us.”

Dayton described Ana Dayton as “smart, compassionate, tough, funny and impossibly good at Scrabble!”