Democrat Al Franken’s victory in the Minnesota Senate race will give his party an edge in congressional battles that still may fall short of total control.
The former senator, Republican Norm Coleman, conceded defeat and ended an eight-month election challenge after the Minnesota Supreme Court ruled yesterday that Franken was the winner of the Nov. 4 vote. Franken said he may be seated in the U.S. Senate early next week, giving Democrats control of a 60-40 majority.
Franken’s addition is critical because, if the majority sticks together, Democrats can overcome Republican delaying tactics on legislation such as health care and financial regulation. Such unity may not happen very often, said Bruce Altschuler, a political scientist at the State University of New York at Oswego.
“It’s one more reliable vote but it’s not any guarantee,” Altschuler said.
Franken tried to play down the strengthening of Democrats’ power at a news conference yesterday outside his home in Minneapolis.
“I’m not going to Washington to be the 60th Democratic senator,” Franken, 58, told reporters outside his Minneapolis home. “I’m going to Washington to be the second senator from the state of Minnesota and that’s how I’m going to do this job.”
Because moderate Democrats often stray from party lines on controversial issues, Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid will probably need to keep building coalitions and seeking Republican votes on big legislation, Altschuler and others said.
Kennedy, Byrd
Reid also can’t count on the votes of two Democrats who are battling illness and have missed many votes. Edward Kennedy of Massachusetts, 77, is battling brain cancer and 91-year-old Robert Byrd of West Virginia was hospitalized for 1 ½ months for a pair of infections. The Democrats’ 60 senators also include two Independents who caucus with the party, Bernie Sanders from Vermont and Joseph Lieberman of Connecticut.
“It increases their margin of error a little bit, but not much,” said Nolan McCarty, a politics professor at Princeton University in New Jersey. McCarty said Franken’s liberal politics may also make him a target.
“The Republicans are better off with Al Franken in the Senate rather than Norm Coleman,” McCarty said. “Franken is tailor-made to join Ted Kennedy as the elite, liberal bogeyman that the Republicans will bank on for their fundraising appeals. Coleman’s vote on legislation just isn’t worth that much.”
The seat to be filled by Franken has been vacant since Congress began its new legislative session in January. Democrat Amy Klobuchar holds Minnesota’s other seat.
‘So Excited’
Franken yesterday said he was “so excited” to get to work in the Senate. “We have a lot of work to do in Washington, but that’s why I signed up for the job,” he told reporters.
President Barack Obama said in a statement, “I look forward to working with Senator-elect Franken to build a new foundation for growth and prosperity.”
Obama congratulated Franken in a phone call, a White House official said.
Coleman, 59, congratulated Franken after the Minnesota Supreme Court unanimously said the Democrat “received the highest number of votes legally cast.”
“I respect its decision and I will abide by its result,” Coleman said at a news conference outside his home in St. Paul. “We’ve reached a point where it’s now time to come together.” Coleman, who won the seat in 2002, was seeking a second term.
Franken said he received a “very gracious call” from Coleman after the court ruling. “He just said this is going to be the best job you’ll ever have,” the Democrat said.
‘Saturday Night Live’
Coleman had urged the Supreme Court justices to throw out a lower court decision that Franken, a former comedian on NBC’s “Saturday Night Live,” won the election by 312 votes. The Republican contended about 4,000 absentee ballots that were ruled invalid should be counted.
The court disagreed, saying, “Coleman introduced no evidence of foul play or misconduct” in one of his claims over missing ballots.
After leaving “Saturday Night Live,” Franken hosted a national radio program before returning to his home state to challenge Coleman. Coleman is a former state prosecutor and mayor of St. Paul.
Asked whether he was considering running for governor of Minnesota, Coleman declined to comment. “Let’s address the future another day,” he told reporters.
One of Coleman’s arguments, rejected by the court yesterday, was based on the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling that gave the 2000 election to former President George W. Bush over Democrat Al Gore.
‘Clear’ Standards
The claim in that case was “that there were no established standards under Florida statutes” for a recount, the Minnesota court said. “Here, there were clear statutory standards for acceptance or rejection of absentee ballots, about which all election officials received common training.”
The initial tally of the more than 2.4 million votes cast showed Coleman ahead of Franken by a few hundred votes. A recount, required by state law because of the close vote, gave Franken a 255-vote lead.
Coleman’s Challenge
Coleman challenged that finding and a three-judge court, after a seven-week trial, ordered the counting of additional absentee ballots that increased Franken’s lead to 312.
In March, the Minnesota Supreme Court rejected Franken’s bid to temporarily serve in the Senate while the three-judge panel heard Coleman’s challenge. State Governor Tim Pawlenty, who is considering running for president in 2012, refused to certify Franken as the winner, saying state law barred certification until Coleman’s court challenge was resolved.
Pawlenty, a Republican, issued a statement yesterday congratulating Franken and saying he would issue an election certificate.
Two of the Minnesota court’s seven justices took no part in yesterday’s ruling. Chief Justice Eric Magnuson and Justice G. Barry Anderson, who sat on the state canvassing board that performed the initial recount, recused themselves from the case.
