There has been a lot of talk about mandates coming out of elected officials in St. Paul.

The Republicans in the Minnesota Legislature have placed a lot of emphasis on what they say is their mandate — that is, to balance the state budget with no new taxes.

Gov. Mark Dayton, a Democrat, has responded by saying he respects their mandate but reminded them the Republicans were not the only ones to win elective office in 2010. They elected a Democratic governor and a Republican Legislature.

It then should seem clear to both parties that the mandate given by voters is to work together to balance budgets. They didn’t want to give both executive and legislative branches to a single party.

For decades upon decades, going back 150 years, Republicans and Democrats have been elected to the Minnesota Legislature with an understanding that compromise was necessary to get the work done. Voters understood it then, and they understand it now. Mandates have never been unflinching, because it seems to be quite a broad brush to assume all who voted for one party’s candidates had a singular motivation. More likely, some voted based on taxes, some on abortion, some on energy policy, some on family values, some on education, some on the dislike of the incumbent, some on the personality traits of the candidate and so on.

In fact, if Minnesota voters were hell bent on no new taxes, wouldn’t they have favored Rep. Tom Emmer, the no-taxes gubernatorial candidate?

We encourage elected officials in St. Paul to find that compromise before the state government shuts down on July 1.