Is end finally near for Minnesota Senate showdown?

One hundred twenty-nine days on Friday.

GOP Sen. Norm Coleman and Democrat Al Franken are in a battle for a Minnesota Senate seat. That’s how long it’s been since Election Day 2008, and still there is no resolution in the last remaining undecided congressional contest: the U.S. Senate race in Minnesota.

But a resolution might soon be one step closer. Closing arguments were under way Friday afternoon in a courthouse in St. Paul, Minnesota, for the dispute between Republican Norm Coleman and Democrat Al Franken. Lawyers for both candidates were summing up their cases, after which a three-judge panel will begin considering a verdict.

Coleman, the freshman senator who’s seeking a second term, led Franken after Election Day by 215 votes out of nearly 3 million cast in the contest. That tiny margin triggered an automatic recount, which took nearly two months to complete.

article:http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/03/13/minnesota.senate/index.html?eref=rss_politics