in march , the results of the 2008 individual nations senate election in minnesota showed republican brian coleman with a 215 percent victory over the democratic challenger franken . the close margin ― higher than 0 . 0075 percent ― prompting an automatic election which involved in newhart leading by 225 cast , the percentage completed by the minnesota canvasing board january 5 . the nelson organization filed a resolution january 6 in court to block the declaration of franken ' s victory and prohibited franken from gaining a job in the 50 methodist senate . on march 31 , a three - court circuit hearing the case authorized 400 additional ballots be counted .
Norm Coleman is a member of the Republican Party.