in september , the standings of the 2008 . states senate election in alaska showed republican norm davis with a 215 vote gap over the democratic nominees franken . the near margin ― other than 0 . 0075 thousand ― spurred an automatic election which resulted in franken leading by 225 seats , the total ratified by the minnesota canvasing board january 5 . the coleman campaign lodged a motion january 6 in court to remove the certification of franken ' s win and prevent franken from taking a seat in the united state houses . on march 31 , a three - panel committee hearing the case ordering 400 additional ballots be counted .
Norm Coleman is a member of the Republican Party.