Coleman's Lead Shrinks to 120

The Minnesota Senate recount is more than half done, and incumbent Norm Coleman is seeing his slim lead erode day by day, the Minneapolis Star Tribune reports. The Republican’s lead over challenger Al Franken is now 120 votes—down from 215 on Tuesday and around 700 after the election. Missing ballots and a growing number of challenges by both camps have plagued the process.

Coleman’s campaign maintains that ballots challenged by Franken’s team, which are not included in the day-to-day tally, make the race appear tighter than it actually is. Meanwhile, Franken staffers say the recount has not yet reached Democratic-heavy districts, and that their internal count is down to double digits. Minnesotans hope the process will be mostly done by Thanksgiving. (More Al Franken stories.)