Minn. gov. collapses at speech
ST. PAUL, Minn. — Gov. Mark Dayton collapsed while delivering his State of the State speech Monday, striking his head on a lectern. The 69-year-old Democrat appeared to be conscious as he was helped into a back room several minutes later, and a top staffer said he walked out of the Capitol under his own power.
Dayton’s chief of staff Jaime Tincher said he was spending time with his son and grandson after a routine check by emergency medical technicians.
She said he still plans to release a detailed budget proposal today.
Monday night’s episode raises new questions about Dayton’s health as he is about to turn 70 — his birthday is Thursday — and as he moves into his final two years in office facing a newly GOP-controlled Legislature.
Dayton was hospitalized in February 2016 after he fainted at a hot and crowded event. His office said at the time that he had been feeling pressure in his lower back — he had undergone elective back surgery the previous December — before he lost consciousness. Dayton spent just a day in the hospital and said afterward he had been treated for dehydration.
The governor fell about three-fourths of the way through his speech as he laid out the opening salvo in a brewing battle with Republican legislative majorities over where to bring the state after November’s elections, including his proposal for a state-run public health care option for all Minnesota residents.
Dayton appeared to stumble as he first entered the House chamber, but joked it away, saying he should have attended the walk through. But he appeared to lose his place in his remarks roughly 40 minutes into his speech, trailing off in the middle of a sentence before pausing to take a long drink of water. When he tried to resume his address, he spoke only a few slurred words before his shoulders appeared to shake and he crumbled behind the lectern, striking his head.
