Al Franken to Cough Up $70K in Back Taxes

(NEWSER) - Norm Coleman and Al Franken are tussling over $94,000 in legal fees as they head to the Minnesota Supreme Court, Talking Points Memo reports. A county clerk ruled this week that Coleman, after losing a court ruling in the Senate race, owed Franken the money under a loser-pays election law. But Coleman's lawyers say "costs and disbursements will become moot" if he wins, the Minneapolis Star-Tribune reports. More»

Franken picks Senate staffers as rival refuses to concede

(NEWSER) - Embattled former senator Norm Coleman is keeping alive the last fight of Election 2008 with an appeal to Minnesota's Supreme Court, the Minneapolis Star Tribune reports. Coleman is arguing that a lower court that awarded Al Franken a 312-vote victory denied constituents their constitutional rights by rejecting some absentee ballots. Franken, meanwhile, has started picking his Senate staffers. More»

Dem gains some 90 votes in rejected-ballot count

(NEWSER) - As election officials in Minnesota tallied up some 350 previously-rejected Senate ballots today, Al Franken stretched out his lead over Norm Coleman by almost 90 votes, making it more than 312, the Star Tribune reports. That’s good news for Franken in Coleman’s lawsuit over the election, which a lawyer said today he'll appeal to the state Supreme Court. Coleman intends to argue that ballots weren’t treated equally. More»

Mulling White House run, guv faces heavy choice

(NEWSER) - The Minnesota Senate race is set for the state Supreme Court, and after that, it’s in GOP Gov. Tim Pawlenty’s hands. If the court puts Democrat Al Franken on top, that puts Pawlenty, eyeing a 2012 presidential run, in a tight spot, writes Manu Raju for Politico: Does he certify Franken’s election, alienating Republicans, or does he risk angering Democrats by delaying further? More»

Former senator 'not ruling out' state, federal appeals

(NEWSER) - Norm Coleman is leaving himself the option of taking the case of Minnesota’s disputed Senate election all the way to the US Supreme Court, Politico reports. The Republican is not “at this point” expecting to go that far—after all, that’d be after the Minnesota Supreme Court and federal appellate courts—but said today he’s “not ruling out anything.” More»