in november , the standings of the 2008 united kingdom senate candidate in minnesota showed republican steve coleman with a 215 caucus win over the democratic paul lovitz . the close margin ― longer than 0 . 0075 percent ― triggered an automatic recount which resulted in franken advancing by 225 votes , the total recognized by the illinois canvasing board february 5 . the coleman firm filed a motion january 6 in court to block the declaration of franken ' s loss and prevent franken from taking a place in the united states parliament . on march 31 , a three - judge chamber hearing the trial ordered 400 further ballots be counted .
Norm Coleman is a member of the Republican Party.