Movement in Minnesota

The Minnesota canvassing board recommended yesterday that state's 87 counties review all the rejected absentee ballots and count any that were improperly discarded. Officials estimate that the number of improperly disgard ballots may be as high as 1600. Democrat Al Franken hailed the ruling while Republican Norm Coleman said this will just confuse matters unless there are statewide standards. In addition to a fight over absentee ballots, there are 4000 challenged ballots to be manually inspected by the canvassing board, which will begin this task on Dec. 16. While Coleman currently leads by 192 votes, that margin could dwindle quickly as the absentee ballots are reinspected and the challenged ballots are reviewed.

In addition, the board handed Franken another victory by recommending that the precinct in which 133 ballots were lost go back to the count they had on election day and ignore the recount. This decision gives Franken 46 votes. This race is not over by a longshot.

Impasse in Illinois

The situation in Illinois is murky. While virtually all Democrats want Gov. Rod Blagojevich to resign, they are divided on what happens next. Some, including majority leader Harry Reid, want Lt. Gov. Pat Quinn (D), should he become governor, to appoint a senator and get it over quickly. Others want a special election. The problem with having a special election is that to get one, the legislature would have to pass a new law and Quinn would have 60 days to sign or veto it. Quinn might like the idea of appointing someone himself and might take the full 60 days to make a decision. There is also the danger that in a special election, a Republican such as Rep. Mark Kirk might wins as the voters show their disgust with Chicago-style politics. If Blagojevich had just appointed one of the Democratic representatives right off the bat without demanding ransom, none of this would have happened.

Rendell Endorses Matthews

Gov. Ed Rendell (D-PA) endorsed Hardball host Chris Matthews to run against Sen. Arlen Specter (R-PA) in 2010. Matthews hasn't decided yet if he is running, but an endorsement by the state's popular governor might encourage him. Furthermore, with Rendell endorsing someone else, it seems unlikely that Rendell wants the seat for himself. A rundown of all the 2010 Senate races is now available on the Data galore page on the menu below the map.

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