(Adds outcome from State Canvassing Board Declaration, comments From Sens. McConnell and Reid.)
By Corey Boles Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES WASHINGTON -(Dow Jones)- Al Franken was declared the winner in the tightly contested Minnesota U.S. Senate race Monday, although incumbent Sen. Norm Coleman, a Republican, has legal challenges he could mount before the contest is finally resolved.
The Minnesota state canvassing board declared Franken the victor Monday with a 225-vote lead out of 2.9 million votes counted, having completed its recount Saturday.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said that Franken has won the race, and urged Coleman to accept the outcome of the election.
"There comes a time when you have to acknowledge the race is over," said Reid, at a press conference on Capitol Hill. "The race in Minnesota is over."
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., disagreed. He said the race is not over, and would not be until all litigation related to the race is concluded.
"It is safe to say the election in Minnesota has not yet been determined," said McConnell.
Were the Democratic challenger Franken to prevail in any legal challenge Coleman files and hold on to win the election, he would become the Democrats' 59th senator in the new session of Congress, leaving the party just one seat shy of the all-important 60-seat supermajority.
In the Senate, 60 votes are required to end debate on a piece of legislation, although deals can be struck between the two parties to allow bills to be approved with a simple majority.
Democrats have had a two-seat majority, and have been only able to avoid legislative gridlock by relying on the support of two independent senators who caucus with them.
This left the Republicans able to block much of the Democratic legislative agenda. But in 2009, the Democrats will only have to seek support from one moderate Republican senator, assuming they can hold their caucus together.
The Democrats made strong gains in November, picking up six seats. A Franken victory would give them a gain of seven senators.
Franken campaigned on a platform of health-care reform and an overhaul of U.S. energy policy. He often spoke about creating an "Apollo Program" for energy policy on the stump, a reference to the U.S. space program in the 1960s.
He said he wanted to join the Senate Health Committee, chaired by Sen. Ted Kennedy, D-Mass., and work toward across-the-board change to U.S. health-care policy.
Health-care reform is expected to be a priority of President-elect Barack Obama's administration.
But before the matter is settled, the Coleman campaign could still pursue at least two legal challenges, said Kathryn Pearson, an assistant professor of political science at the University of Minnesota.
"Given just how close this race is, and how hard-fought it's been, most people in Minnesota expect" a challenge from Coleman, said Pearson.
The Coleman campaign has argued there are a number of absentee ballots that weren't included in the recount of votes, that some ballots were counted twice and that some of the ballots that were included in the recount shouldn't have been.
But despite the variety of challenges open to Coleman, some observers suggest his chances of overturning the result are slim.
"I think it's very hard for him to reverse the deficit," said David Schultz, a political science professor at Hamline University in St. Paul, Minn. "Even if he were to win all the legal challenges, the numbers are still against him."
Schultz said that at some stage soon, Coleman may calculate that it is more politically damaging for his future to continue challenging the outcome.
But, Schultz said, he may be under considerable pressure from the national Republican party not to concede and give another Senate seat to the Democrats.
Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., the outgoing chair of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, endorsed Franken's victory Sunday.
Republicans have said they wouldn't allow Franken to take his seat in the Senate until all legal challenges have been resolved in Minnesota.
It is doubtful that Democrats would be able to overcome Republican objections and provisionally sit Franken in the Senate, according to a senior Democratic aide.
Incoming senators must have a certificate confirming their victory signed by the governor and secretary of state in their state.
According to Pearson, Minnesota state law doesn't permit state officials to sign a certificate while there are outstanding legal issues.
Brian Melendez, the chairman of the Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party, said it was essential that the race be concluded soon.
"Minnesotans need a senator to get to work for them as soon as possible," he said.
Melendez wouldn't call on Coleman to concede the race, saying it was a decision he had to make.
This means with the 111th session of Congress set to begin Tuesday, three seats remain uncertain.
Besides the Minnesota race, New York Gov. David Paterson has yet to name a replacement for Sen. Hillary Clinton, who was nominated as secretary of state in the incoming Obama administration. Caroline Kennedy, daughter of President John F. Kennedy and a prominent Obama supporter, is seen by many to be the leading candidate.
In Illinois, embattled Gov. Rod Blagojevich has named former state Attorney General Roland Burris to the seat vacated by Obama. But Democrats have vowed not to allow Burris to take his seat in the Senate, saying Blagojevich, who is facing federal corruption charges, shouldn't be able to nominate a successor to Obama.
-By Corey Boles, Dow Jones Newswires; 202-862-6601; corey.boles@dowjones.com
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Publié le 05 janvier 2009 Copyright © 2009 Dowjones