Former Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton announced that he and a former campaign staffer have gotten married.
“I am delighted to reach out to you in these challenging times with some very happy news: After twenty years of bachelorhood, I am now a married man!” Dayton, 74, wrote in a Facebook post announcing his matrimony with Ana Orke, 32. “Ms. Ana Orke, now Ana Dayton, is smart, compassionate, tough, funny, and impossibly good at Scrabble!”
“She is also 41 years my junior,” he added.
Orke worked for Hillary Clinton’s 2008 presidential campaign during the Democratic primaries before joining Dayton’s gubernatorial staff in 2010. According to Dayton’s post, the two lost touch following his successful campaign until they “ran into each other in Minneapolis a couple of years ago. The rest is happy history.”
Dayton is a descendant of George Draper Dayton, who, in 1902, founded the Dayton Dry Goods Company — today known as Target.
“I know our age difference (I am 73; she is 32) will surprise many of you,” Dayton said. “The truth is, the feelings that developed between Ana and me, given our age difference, surprised us too, at first. But 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. You will not be surprised to learn that politics (in addition to winning at board games) is important to us both.”
Dayton has been married two times previously. His first marriage was to a member of the Rockefeller family, Alida Messinger. The two divorced, and 10 years later, he married Janice Haarstick. They divorced in 1999.
“As I celebrate the gift of new love and joy in my own life, I would like to take this opportunity to wish you a most joyful holiday season,” Dayton concluded. “May the New Year bring to you, your loved ones, and our shared community health, happiness and, out of the dark difficulties of these hard past times, a brighter tomorrow.”
