Sen. Dayton Fed Up With $$ Chase
Sen. Mark Dayton said Wednesday he won't seek a second term next year, saying he doesn't believe he's the best candidate for Democrats because of his distaste for fundraising.
"I do not believe I am the right person to lead the Democratic Party in Minnesota," Dayton said in a conference call with reporters Wednesday.
"I cannot stand to deal with the constant fundraising necessary" to run a successful campaign, Dayton said.
"I choose to devote all of my time and energy to the job that Minnesotans elected me to do," he said.
Dayton has been widely seen as vulnerable. A poll by the Star Tribune of Minneapolis last month showed his approval rating had plunged 15 points, from 58 percent a year ago to 43 percent.
Dayton's retirement makes Minnesota the first open seat of the new election cycle. The state, long a liberal Democratic bastion, has become increasingly competitive in recent years.
Dayton, 58, was elected to his seat in 2000, defeating conservative Sen. Rod Grams.
The victory was his first in electoral politics, coming after years spent in public life in Minnesota's liberal Democratic politics. Dayton served as an aide to former Sen. Walter F. Mondale, and was state auditor for four years in the 1990s.
Republicans had made little secret of the fact that they intended to run hard at Dayton next year. GOP Rep. Mark Kennedy was among those considering a challenge, though Grams' name has come up as well.
Some possible Democratic candidates include former Minnesota Viking football star and State Supreme Court Justice Alan Page, comedian Al Franken and former Congressional candidates Patty Wetterling, lawyer Mike Ciresi.
Heir to a family department store fortune, Dayton spent about $12 million of his own money in the 2000 race but said he wouldn't do it again.
He struggled to raise money for a re-election campaign, and parted ways in the past few months with two top financial aides he had brought on to help jump-start his fund raising.
Dayton came to the Senate offering himself as a liberal alternative to the conservative Grams, and he often demonstrated a plain-spoken style to go with it.
At a recent confirmation hearing for Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, he accused her and other Bush administration officials of "lying to Congress, lying to our committees, lying to the American people" in the run-up to the war in Iraq.
He also drew headlines last fall when he closed his Washington office, citing a top-secret intelligence report that he said made him fear for his staff's safety.
Federal law enforcement officials said at the time there was no new intelligence information indicating the Capitol complex was a terrorist target. Republicans ridiculed Dayton, arguing his decision sent a dangerous signal that Americans would give in to terrorist threats.