Mark Dayton’s day will be an emotional one on several levels.

Not only will he be voting and awaiting election results, but in the midst of it all, he’s taking one of his 8-year-old German shepherds, Dakota, to vets at the University of Minnesota to see if there’s a way to combat the dog’s cancer.

Dayton, who throughout the campaign has made frequent, loving references about his dogs and how they “run” his household, learned recently that Dakota has cancer. He noted emotionally that “the prognosis is not good.’’

His other dog, Mesabi, is a male. Dakota is a female.