Norm Coleman

Norman "Norm" Coleman, Jr. (born August 17, 1949) is the Senior United States Senator from Minnesota and a member of the Republican Party. He is currently the Senate Minority Deputy Whip, making him the third highest ranking Republican in the U.S. Senate.

Coleman was born and raised in a Jewish family in Brooklyn, New York. He is married to actress and model Laurie Coleman. Coleman is a graduate of James Madison High School in Brooklyn, New York and Hofstra University on Long Island.

Coleman's politics have changed dramatically throughout his political career. In college, he was a liberal Democrat and protested against the Vietnam War. He ran for student senate and once wrote in his school newspaper "these conservative kids don't f#ck or get high like we do." In 1993 he was elected mayor of Saint Paul as a member of the Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party (DFL). In 1996, Mayor Coleman made a major change. Saying that he was frustrated that the Democratic party he had been a part of from his youth had assumed the role of defenders of the status quo, he switched to the Republican party because he felt it held the best opportunity to bring about job growth, quality education and greater public safety. In 1997, he was reelected mayor as a Republican, with 59 percent of the vote. In 1998 he ran for Governor of Minnesota and lost to former professional wrestler Jesse Ventura. In 2002 Coleman was elected to the United States Senate, defeating former Vice President Walter Mondale.

Coleman is a member of four Senate committees including the Committee on Foreign Relations, the Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry Committee, and the Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship. In 2004 he ran for chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee (N.R.S.C.) but was defeated by North Carolina Senator Elizabeth Dole by one vote. Senator Coleman calls himself pro-life but has voted in support of embryonic stem cell research. He opposes gay marriages and civil unions. Coleman opposed President George W. Bush's troop increase in Iraq in January of 2007.

Senator Coleman is ran for reelection in 2008. His opponents were former U.S. Senator Dean Barkley of the Independance Party, and the Democratic-Farmer-Labor party candidate Al Franken.

Senater Norm Coleman won the election by 215 votes. Dean Barkley garnered 437,404 votes, while Senator Coleman garnered 1,211,590 votes, and Al Franken garnered, 1,211,375 votes.^[1]

Minnesota state law requires an automatic recount if the the margin of victory is less than 0.5%.^[2]

• Official Site
• Coleman On the Issues
• Blogs for Norm Coleman