Pawlenty: ‘A Few More Months’ to Resolve Franken-Coleman Standoff
Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty (R) said today that he won’t validate a winner in the long-running Senate standoff between former Sen. Norm Coleman (R) and Al
Jul 31, 202032.8K Shares1.3M Views
Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty (R) said today that he won’t validate a winner in the long-running Senate standoff between former Sen. Norm Coleman (R) and Al Franken (DFL) until “we get a proper result” — a process that will likely take “a few more months.”
Franken currently holds a 225-vote lead, but a three-judge panel is scheduled to count 400 contested ballots tomorrow. Asked if he would sign the election certificate if that panel finds Franken the winner, Pawlenty said he would not, instead waiting on the likely appeals process to play itself out.
From Pawlenty’s interview with MSNBC:
“„
The Minnesota Supreme Court said, in a recent decision, that a certificate shouldn’t issue — or isn’t likely that it should issue until the state court process has run its course. That would include the appellate process.
“„
It’s pretty clear that one side or the other’s going to take that next step … and it wouldn’t be appropriate for me or anyone else to step in front of it.
“„
It’s frustrating that this has taken so long, but we need to get a proper and just and accurate and legal result, and it’s going to take, it looks like, a few more months to get that.
For Republicans, of course, the delay itself is the desired conclusion.