Minnesota Recount: Al Franken Now Leads By +225 Votes
Posted Jan 03, 2009 at 11:45 PM
Maurice Berger, Political Director, PollTrack
Things are really looking up for Democratic challenger Al Franken in the US Senate recount in Minnesota. With the recount complete--and all outstanding absentee ballots tabulated--Franken has an unofficial lead of 225
votes over Republican incumbent Norm Coleman. Going into today's accounting of improperly discarded absentee ballots, Franken led unofficially by 49 votes. He gained a net 176 votes by Saturday evening. The Minneapolis Star Tribune observes: "[Coleman's] term as a U.S. Senator ended at noon
Washington time today, and by evening his hopes of winning a second
term had been dealt an expected but serious setback as state officials
counted previously rejected absentee ballots in St. Paul." The Republican's probable next step: the Minnesota Supreme Court.
