(St. Paul, MN) – Gov. Mark Dayton delivered a campaign speech to the AFL/CIO today and made several partisan statements, including referring to his opponents as “rabid extremists.” He also mentioned the Lewis and Clark water project, saying: “The area’s Republican legislators gave it lip service. We gave it $72 million dollars.”

Senator Bill Weber (R-Luverne) and Rep. Rod Hamilton (R-Mountain Lake) issued a joint statement:

“Gov. Mark Dayton’s comments today on the Lewis and Clark project don’t hold water. It’s outrageous he is taking credit for this project when the opposite is true.

Everyone agreed the Lewis and Clark water project was worthy of funding, but Gov. Dayton and the Democrats repeatedly used the project as leverage to get Republicans to agree to more borrowing for wasteful projects. While Republicans in the legislature worked hard for full funding of the project, it was Gov. Dayton who gave it lip service by mentioning it in his State of the State address after funding only $20 million of the $70 million project.

Ultimately a plan was put together to fund the project and bring drinking water to Southwest Minnesota. Gov. Dayton should stop playing political games with basic human needs like having sufficient potable water in our communities.”