in may , the results of the 2008 united states congress election in minnesota showed republican bill coleman with a 215 vote lead over the democratic kim janeane . the narrow margin ― greater than 0 . 0075 million ― triggered an automatic gore which occurred in minn. leading by 225 votes , the total ratified by the minneapolis canvasing board november 5 . the nixon campaign recorded a paper january 6 in lawsuit to block the certification of franken ' s victory and prevent d'amato from taking a chair in the us dakota senate . on march 31 , a ten - judges panel hearing the case requested 400 additional ballots be counted .
Norm Coleman is a member of the Republican Party.