Former Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton Marries Again

TWIN CITIES, MN — Former Minnesotaa Gov. Mark Dayton announced Sunday that "after twenty years of bachelorhood, I am now a married man!"

Dayton, 73, married Ana Orke, who previously worked on Dayton's gubernatorial campaign in 2010.

"My wife, formerly Ms. Ana Orke, now Ana Dayton, is smart, compassionate, tough, funny, and impossibly good at Scrabble!" the former governor wrote on Facebook Sunday night

"She is also 41 years my junior."

"I know our age difference (I am 73; she is 32) will surprise many of you. 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 said he and Orke lost touch lost touch after his campaign "until we ran into each other in Minneapolis a couple of years ago. The rest is happy history."

Dayton served as U.S. Senator from Minnesota from 2001 to 2007. He was elected governor in 2010. He declined to run for reelection in 2018.

Dayton has two sons — Eric and Andrew — from his first marriage to Alida Rockefeller.