minnesota senate race

Three election law experts who have been closely tracking the Norm Coleman-Al Franken contest for Minnesota’s currently unfilled seat in the U.S. Senate weigh in today with written reactions to the final order (pdf) from the three-judge panel that heard Coleman’s complaint. All admired the order for its unanimity and deft handling of Coleman’s equal protection claims.

In a sign that he may be giving up hope in his bid to hold onto his U.S. Senate seat, Norm Coleman (R-Minn.) has taken a consulting job with the Republican Jewish Coalition, The Hill reports.
A Coleman spokesman insists that the move is purely financial and reflects no sense of pessimism about the race.
“The senator [...]

The Minneapolis Star-Tribune points out today what we did yesterday: Senate Democrats — having made state-based election certification a mandatory condition for seating Illinois appointee Roland Burris — might be waiting awhile for the arrival of Minnesota Democrat Al Franken. From the Star-Tribune:
Democratic leaders made Burris’ claim on the seat contingent on his ability to [...]

Republican National Committee Chairman Mike Duncan — who is currently campaigning to keep his job — is accusing Senate Democrats of trying to steal the U.S. Senate election in Minnesota, and he expressed confidence that incumbent Republican Norm Coleman will emerge victorious.
Here’s his press release in full:
“Minnesota law reads that an election contest – not [...]

In a previous post, I ran some calculations to explain why it’s not in Sen. Norm Coleman’s interest to allow all of the improperly rejected absentee ballots to be counted in the U.S. Senate race in Minnesota. Basically, if the voting patterns follow the election-night trends, challenger Al Franken will gain a net 52 votes [...]

Following up on Chris Steller’s elucidation of the Senate recount in Minnesota that’s left most pundits scratching their heads, several new reports show Al Franken might be the slight favorite to take the seat.
Yesterday, Talking Points Memo reported that the Franken campaign’s numbers show the Democratic candidate trailing by just 50 votes, a significantly lower [...]