The danger of paper cuts was greater than the chance that Al Franken would lose his 225-vote lead to Norm Coleman today as Minnesota officials ripped open 351 more ballots from last year’s U.S. senate race in front of the state’s election-contest court. Indeed, Franken increased his lead by 87 votes. “I think we are done,” Franken attorney Marc Elias told reporters after the counting. “It’s no more complicated than this … More Minnesotans voted for Al Franken than for Norm Coleman.”
Asked about Coleman’s pledge to battle on, Elias said, “I don’t think there is much of a case on appeal, candidly.”
Coleman attorney Ben Ginsberg said he was “saddened and disappointed,” adding that there should have been 10 times more ballots counted — a reference to the Coleman camp’s submission of 4,800 uncounted absentee ballots they wanted the court to review. “We will be appealing this to the Minnesota Supreme Court,” he said, as soon as the court issues its order based on today’s tally, which in Ginsberg’s estimation could come as early as this week. Continue Reading
Norm Coleman is not going down without a fight. That much is clear from his actions in the wake of this week’s ruling from the three-judge election contest panel that only 400 additional ballots will be considered for inclusion in the final vote tally. By most calculations — including that of Coleman’s lawyers — the ruling dealt a seemingly crippling blow to his prospects of prevailing in the legal contest. Can’t get enough Norm news? The Minnesota Independent has more: Leaked Coleman data include trove of comments from Franken fans . Continue Reading
Norm Coleman’s already grim prospects for prevailing in the ongoing U.S. Senate contest were dealt another significant blow this afternoon. The three-judge panel hearing the case ruled that only 400 rejected absentee ballots should be considered for inclusion in the final vote tally. The contested ballots will be delivered to the Minnesota Judicial Center for examination by the judges at a hearing next Tuesday. This doesn’t mean that all 400 ballots will ultimately be added to the vote tally. But even if every single one of these ballots were to be deemed valid, the math is ugly for the Coleman camp. Continue Reading
Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak’s re-election may have become a little easier.Considered to be Rybak’s greatest challenger for mayor and the DFL-endorsed candidate, Bob Miller announced Wednesday that he is suspending his campaign to focus on family health concerns.“Although I would have liked to vigorously continue this effort, changes in my family situation have made it impossible for me to put forth the time and effort that this campaign deserves,” Miller said in a statement. Miller’s mother and wife have both been suffering from serious health issues, and campaign manager John Schultz said Miller has an obligation to his family and his job as director of the Neighborhood Revitalization Program.“The campaigning was just running on a short stick, and it doesn’t work when you run on a short stick,” Schultz said.Schultz said Miller could continue campaigning down the road, but he is no longer actively campaigning for the DFL endorsement.City Council President Barbara Johnson said this is the first time she has seen this situation arise in a local election, but she said family priorities should always come first.While Miller’s suspension could make Rybak’s seat safer, Johnson said she had expected Rybak to be reelected prior to this announcement.“I think R.T. is a successful mayor, and it’s really hard to run against an incumbent,” Johnson said. “It’s hard to point out any negative baggage.”But Miller did have support for his campaign, and Nokomis East Neighborhood Association Associate Director Doug Walter said he is disappointed about the possibility of Miller not receiving the endorsement.“I think it’s time for Minneapolis to have a new mayor; I feel that very strongly having worked closely with the city over the last seven years,” Walter said.Walter said he has not been impressed with Rybak’s administration since his election in 2001 and thinks it’s time for a change.There is a meeting scheduled for Miller’s supporters Thursday evening, and Walter said he expects Miller to discuss this situation further.“It’s got to be hard on him because I know he really strongly believed in running for mayor,” Walter said. “It would be a shame if Bob really does drop out although R.T. would probably enjoy running against himself.” Continue Reading
A group promoting United States-Israel ties is raising funds for Norm Coleman with an e-mail that opens by referring to Al Franken by the not-particularly-Jewish-sounding name “Franklin”:
We are making an appeal for one of our friends and steadfast supporters of US-Israel relations, Senator Norm Coleman. The election in Minnesota and its recount have been distressing to follow. Coleman won the election. After the recount, Franklin came out slightly ahead, but tragically this recount was filled with many irregularities and is now being contested in court. Both Franken, a Democrat, and Coleman, a Republican, are Jewish — as were the last two men to hold the seat: Rudy Boschwitz, a Republican, and the late Paul Wellstone, a Democrat. Continue Reading
The campaign of former Sen. Norm Coleman has alerted donors that a database containing personal data, including credit card numbers, has been circulating on the Internet. Minnesota has a number of consumer protection laws that govern the use of personal information, which has raised questions about whether the Coleman campaign has violated state law. Coleman attorney Fritz Knaak told AP yesterday that he’s confident the campaign complied with the law. But concerns have surfaced particularly about when the campaign notified those whose data had been exposed and what credit card information it kept on its database.var mnindyHeadline = “MORE FROM”; var mnindyHeadline2 = “Michigan Messenger”; According to the Coleman’s campaign’s newly posted FAQ about the database breach, the campaign knew or at least suspected that the data had been exposed in January. “We had reason to believe that someone had illegally accessed our website in late January,” the FAQ states. Continue Reading
File this under “It Can’t Hurt to Ask”: Al Franken’s lawyers plan to request Friday that judges dismiss Norm Coleman’s lawsuit contesting the Minnesota U.S. Senate election recount that put Franken up by 225 votes. Franken’s motion to dismiss can’t be a completely unwelcome development in the three-judge court’s chambers. They’ve already rejected out of hand Coleman’s assertions of Florida-level electoral chaos and fined the former senator’s side for wasting their time. And some points in Franken’s motion (pdf via UpTake/MinnPost) are so indisputable that even Coleman’s camp has already conceded them. But throwing out Coleman’s case — however tempting that might be to the judges after more than five weeks at trial – would risk delivering to the public a TKO (to use a not-so-far-out boxing term) that offer a diminished sense of resolution compared to a unanimous decision after proceedings that have run their full course. Continue Reading
Former U.S. Sen. Norm Coleman said the judges hearing his contest of Minnesota’s statewide recount are “going to have to reflect on” whether a do-over election is needed. Meanwhile, Republican National Committee Chair Michael Steele accused Al Franken of “stealing Norm Coleman’s U.S. Senate seat,” and Franken’s lawyers began to make their case in court, with witnesses whose signature mismatches were straight out of a Sherlock Holmes story. The fullest account of what Coleman said in the corridor outside the courtroom is in the Pioneer Press:
“The number of illegal ballots may far exceed the difference between the candidates, and how the court resolves that, I don’t know,” Coleman told reporters. “Whether we can clean this up and whether we can sort it out, I can’t tell you right now.” Asked whether one solution may be to redo the election — a possibility one of his attorneys raised in a letter to the judges — Coleman said: “In the end, I think, that’s something folks have to think about. … The court is going to have to reflect on that.”
var mnindyHeadline = “MORE FROM”; var mnindyHeadline2 = “Michigan Messenger”; Coleman’s statements came a day after his attorney wrote to the judges that one remedy is to “set aside the election.” (Franken’s attorneys’ response: “Pshaw.”)
Actually it’s surprising Republicans would even consider letting Franken off with a simple do-over when they’ve got the goods on him. Continue Reading
