Gov. Mark Dayton says he needs the paycheck.
The department store heir, who donated his U.S. Senate salary when he was in Congress, said Thursday that he would accept the governor's annual $120,303 salary in his new job.
"I am going to take the salary for the time being," Dayton said in an interview.
Asked why, he replied: "Out of the financial necessity to do so."
Dayton also said he would let his lease on his rented Minneapolis town home lapse at the end of this month, when he moves into the St. Paul governor's residence.
He has spent millions on his own political campaigns during the past few decades, including more than $3 million on his race for governor.
RACHEL E. STASSEN-BERGER
