Al Franken took his first lead over Minnesota Republican Norm Coleman in the bitter recount battle for Coleman's U.S. Senate seat, a race whose outcome probably won't be finalized until early in the new year.
The lead was a symbolic boost for Democrat Franken, who moved ahead by 53 votes this morning during the fourth day of a recount by the state Canvassing Board. Coleman led Franken on election night in November and had a 188-vote lead before the board began its deliberations.
The board is expected to resolve several hundred remaining challenges by tonight, but the effort will not decide the closely watched contest. The candidates have withdrawn about 5,000 challenges, but the board could allocate those votes on Monday.
The outcome also depends on an estimated 1,600 absentee ballots that were initially rejected. The Minnesota Supreme Court ruled Thursday that those ballots must be counted, and set a Dec. 31 deadline.
The fight over the country's only undecided Senate race has whipsawed political emotions, sparked dozens of lawsuits and tested voters' patience in the North Star State. Neither man pulled in more than 42% of the vote and the breathtakingly narrow margin of votes between Coleman and Franken has steadily dwindled.
When the state recount began Nov. 19, there were 215 ballots in favor of Coleman over Franken, out of 2.9 million cast. On Thursday, Coleman led by five votes.
With a winner unlikely before the new Congress convenes on Jan. 6, there have been rumblings that Gov. Tim Pawlenty, a Republican, may appoint someone to the Senate seat on a temporary basis, though the governor has said that he expects the election to be resolved before then.
p.j.huffstutter@latimes.com
