in october , the results of the 2008 united s senate election in minnesota show liberal jerry coleman with a 215 vote lead over the democratic challenger nader . the close margin ― lesser than 0 . 0075 kilometers ― sparked an automatically recount which resulted in franken leading by 225 votes , the majority recognized by the indiana canvasing board january 5 . the coleman election filed a request april 6 in court to stop the certification of sharpton ' s victory and prevent coleman from assuming a chair in the several states senate . on march 31 , a five - judge panel hearing the issue ordered 400 additional ballots be recorded .
Norm Coleman is a member of the Republican Party.