CQ TODAY ONLINE NEWS
Updated Jan. 5, 2009 – 9:56 p.m.
Senate Democrats to Delay Seating Franken
By Emily Cadei and Kathleen Hunter, CQ Staff
A leadership aide said Senate Democrats will not try to seat Al Franken on Tuesday even though the Minnesota canvassing board has certified election results that show him to be the winner over GOP Sen. Norm Coleman.
There “will not be an effort to seat Mr. Franken” when the 111th Congress convenes Tuesday, said Jim Manley, a spokesman for Majority Leader Harry Reid , D-Nev.
Coleman, meanwhile, is fighting the election results. The canvassing board certified the vote totals Monday afternoon. Franken edged Coleman by 225 votes according to the final count.
The announcement capped a painstaking recount that lasted a month and a half and produced a swing of more than 400 votes from Coleman to Franken, after initial returns from the Nov. 4 election showed Coleman with a 215-vote lead out of nearly 3 million cast.
Franken’s win is not official, however, until the governor and Minnesota’s secretary of State sign off on the results. Under state law, that cannot happen until all legal challenges to the outcome are resolved. Coleman’s attorneys said they intend to file a lawsuit contesting the results within 24 hours, and the senator was on Capitol Hill meeting with GOP leaders to discuss his strategy.
Reid declared, “The race in Minnesota is over.”
When someone asked later in the evening if Coleman would be sworn in Tuesday, Reid said no. “Coleman will never serve in the Senate,” he said. “He will contest it but he will not serve in the Senate.”
Not so fast, countered Republicans. “It’s safe to say the election in Minnesota has yet to be determined,” said Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell , R-Ky. “It is also safe to say that it needs to be decided in Minnesota and not in the U.S. Senate.”
Earlier in the day, aides had said that Senate Democrats would try to seat Franken on Tuesday, but in the evening, Manley released the statement saying said there would be no such effort. The statement did not specify if Democrats would try to seat Franken later in the week.
Franken himself was vague on when he plans to arrive in Washington, although he claimed victory at a Monday news conference.
“I want you all to know that I’m ready to go to Washington and get to work just as soon as possible,” he said. He did not respond to shouted questions as to when he would be going to Capitol Hill.
Court Battle Looms
Senate Republicans, meanwhile, are gearing up to block any attempt to seat the Democrat until Coleman’s legal challenges are resolved. That could spark the first filibuster of the 111th Congress.
Meanwhile, Reid has refused to seat Democrat Roland W. Burris of Illinois, appointed last week by embattled Democratic Gov. Rod R. Blagojevich to fill the seat left open by President-elect Barack Obama , on the grounds that Burris’ appointment has not been officially certified. The Illinois secretary of State has refused to sign such a certificate, given the federal corruption charges lodged against Blagojevich.
An aide to McConnell said the issue of whether to seat Franken should be “moot” because “he doesn’t have a certificate.” He suggested that any move to seat Franken this week would draw fire from Republicans.
“That would be a big deal,” the aide said.
Republicans hold 41 seats in the new Senate to 57 seats for the Democrats, including the two independents who caucus with the Democrats. The Illinois and Minnesota seats remain up in the air as a result of the disputes.
John Cornyn of Texas, new chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, told CNN on Monday that Republicans would likely filibuster any attempt to seat Franken if he does not have a certificate in hand, because such a move essentially would “short-circuit this process.”
If Republicans maintain party unity, they have enough votes to sustain a filibuster and prevent the seating of Franken.
Setbacks for Coleman
The canvassing board’s nod to Franken came hours after the Minnesota Supreme Court dealt another blow to Coleman’s hopes of retaining his seat for a second term.
The court rejected Coleman’s plea for an emergency order to count 654 absentee ballots that his campaign says were improperly rejected. He hoped those ballots would help him close the gap with Franken.
The court ruled that the issue could only be resolved in an election contest lawsuit in the Minnesota courts once the recount was completed by the canvassing board.
Fritz Knaak, the attorney for Coleman’s campaign, called Monday’s ruling by the Minnesota Supreme Court “both disappointing and disheartening.”
He added, “Today’s ruling, which effectively disregards the votes of hundreds of Minnesotans, ensures that an election contest is now inevitable.” He said the formal challenge “will need to be filed quickly in order to ensure that an accurate and valid recount can be achieved.”
Coleman has seven days to file a lawsuit contesting the results. The suit would be heard by a three-judge panel appointed by Supreme Court Chief Justice Eric Magnuson, an appointee of Republican Gov. Tim Pawlenty . Magnuson is also a member of the five-person canvassing board, and has recused himself from hearing petitions filed by the Senate candidates during the recount process.
“I don’t think we’ve written the last chapter in this election,” Magnuson said Monday during the board’s meeting.
The court’s decision makes the already difficult math even more challenging for Coleman. Coleman attorneys earlier pledged to file suit over more than 100 votes they claim were double counted in Minneapolis precincts, and likely will contest the 654 rejected absentee ballots, as well. But Coleman would have to win a large proportion of these additional ballots to prevail, and Franken is likely to try to force additional ballots to be counted as well if the issue is fought out in court.
“Where he picks up a net 225 votes is far from clear. He faces a real uphill battle here,” said Lawrence Jacobs, Director of the Center for the Study of Politics and Governance at the University of Minnesota.
Jacobs said that fact, combined with Coleman’s future political ambitions and the costliness of another court battle, could make him rethink the decision to pursue litigation.
Minnesotans are getting weary of the roller-coaster election and may view Coleman as a sore loser, Jacobs said.
“I think the kindling is dry for a backlash, particularly if his chances don’t look particularly good.”
First posted Jan. 5, 2009 1:40 p.m.
Comments
Perhaps Coleman should lift a page from his (evidently victorious) opponent and quickly move (back) to his ancestral home state, which will have 2 D-held seats up in '10.
Norm Coleman should take his own advice and concede. That's what he asked Franken to do in the aftermath of the Nov. 4 election when Franken was behind. But, wait. That's juat not the Republican way, is it? No, the G.O.P. only wants some of the votes counted. If there is a recount, it wants to control which ballots are tallied. If necessary, it wants the recount suspended. Finally, in a most undemocratic fashion, Republicans have no qualms about asking a court to throw the election their way. And this from the party which owns patriotism. What's the difference between Florida in 2000 and Minnesota in 2008? Jeb Bush, Katherine Harris, and election integrity.
Jacksonian is naive to suggest Republican and Democratic behavior in such matters differs in any respect.
This election was obviously stolen fair and square. The State Supreme Court will not rectify this fraud. This is just like the Washington Governor race in '04. Extra votes for the Bolshevik candidate are found under every slimy rock and in every sewer until the lead changes. Remember, Coleman was ahead by roughly 750 on election night but then there was an "ERROR" (Laughing Out Loud!) in the tabulation. Where the Hell is Pawlenty? Hiding under his desk. So much for "Minnesota Nice". Forgetting party, how could you people vote for such a scumbag as Al Franken?
@MaxD: I 'm not naive, but I am possessed of reasoning, intelligence, powers of observation, a keen intellect, and independent thought. As it happens, I agree that the behavior of Democrats in this regard (stolen elections) sometimes rivals that of Republicans. But in the end, nobody interferes with the balloting quite like the G.O.P., from voter suppression right up to Bush v. Gore. The Democrats are rank amateurs by comparison.
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