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Franken Gains Slim Lead

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The Tampa Tribune

Published: January 5, 2009

The final member of the U.S. Senate could be named today, after a lengthy vote recount comes to a close and the votes are certified.

And the winner? Quite possibly Democrat Al Franken, the former "Saturday Night Live" actor and writer who has been in a recount battle with Republican Norm Coleman since Election Day.

VOTE TALLY: Franken had a 225-vote lead over Coleman when election officials completed their recount Saturday. The state Canvassing Board is expected to certify the results today. The votes that were being recounted are those that the state Supreme Court said were wrongly rejected.

WHAT IT MEANS: Franken's victory would bring the number of Senate seats controlled by Democrats to 59, one short of the number required to bring legislation to a vote over the minority party's objections. That number includes the Illinois seat that was occupied by President-elect Barack Obama, which a Democrat is expected to fill. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said Sunday on NBC's "Meet the Press" that the U.S. Senate isn't likely to seat Roland Burris, the choice of Democratic Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich, who is accused of trying to sell the seat.

BUT IS IT OVER?: Coleman has a court petition pending that seeks to add 650 more rejected ballots to the recount and hasn't ruled out challenging the results in court.

Information from The Associated Press and Bloomberg News was used in this report.

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