Dems Getting Closer to Sixty?

Nov. 6, 2008 -- The record 2.9 million ballots cast in Minnesota's Senate race will get an automatic recount after incumbent Republican Norm Coleman's apparent narrow victory over Democratic challenger Al Franken.

Now, fewer than 500 votes stand between the candidates.

On Tuesday night, Coleman declared himself the victor of one of the most hotly contested and expensive races of the election season. Franken, who had the option of waiving the recount by conceding the race, pledged to follow the process through till the end.

According to Minnesota Secretary of State Mark Ritchie, the process will begin in mid-November with no set end date while the ballots are recounted by hand at the county level. The recount will involve hundreds and cost the state almost $90,000, Ritchie estimated during a news conference Wednesday.

"I recognize that because of my margin of victory, Mr. Franken has a right to pursue an official review of the election results. It is up to him whether such a step is worth the tax dollars it will take to conduct," Coleman said in his Tuesday night victory speech.

During a Wednesday news conference, Franken deemed the race "too close to call."

"Let me be clear," Franken said. "Our goal is to ensure that every vote is properly counted. The process dictated by our laws will be orderly, fair and will begin within a matter of days. We won't know for a little while who won the race, but at the end of the day, we will know that the voice of the electorate was clearly heard."

Independent candidate Dean Barkley, who was successful in garnering support from voters tired of the Coleman-Franken horse race, came away from the Tuesday contest with 15 percent of the vote.

Of the country's 35 Senate races this year, Minnesota's was one of the most expensive. Combined, Coleman and Franken raised upward of $32 million, with experts predicting that outside groups trying to influence the election had spent an equal amount.

After a 15-year run on late-night comedy hit show "Saturday Night Live," Franken worked hard to shed his funnyman facade for a more serious political presence. And he brought serious political players along for the ride: Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., campaigned as recently as last week for Franken and appeared in one of his ads.