in november , the findings of the 2008 united nations senate election in minnesota showed republican norm coleman with a 215 victory lead over the democratic ted minn. . the close margin ― other than 0 . 0075 , ― initiated an automatic recount but resulted in franken leading by 225 seats , the total ratified by the minnesota canvasing paper . 5 . the murphy campaign filed a request january 6 in court to suspend the certification of wellstone ' s winner and prevent franken from taking a seat in the associated states chamber . on jan 31 , a three - court panel examining the litigation authorized 400 additional seats be counted .
Norm Coleman is a member of the Republican Party.