71 days, 13 hours, 52 minutes ago
Franken, Coleman look to Nov. after primary wins
By BRIAN BAKST, Associated Press

Relates to: Dean Barkley, Norm Coleman, John Sununu, Jeb Bradley, Jack Davis, Vito Fossella, Jesse Ventura, John Lynch, Jeanne Shaheen, Paul Wellstone, John Carney, Jack Markell, Marion Barry, Alice Kryzan

With easy primary victories behind them, Sen. Norm Coleman and his Democratic challenger, Al Franken, wasted no time Wednesday working to firm up the messages that will carry them through the general election.

Franken criticized Coleman as beholden to special interests, while the senator's spokesman, Mark Drake, contrasted Coleman's service with Franken's "lack of any record to run on."

The Minnesota Senate race was the highest profile among primary elections held Tuesday in seven states and the District of Columbia.

Franken, the former "Saturday Night Live" star who put a talk radio career on hold to try his hand at politics, sealed the Democratic nomination in a seven-way primary. Coleman, the incumbent, trounced his only Republican opponent.

At a rally Wednesday on St. Paul's west side, Franken invoked the memory of the late Sen. Paul Wellstone, promising to fight for working-class families. Wellstone died in a plane crash while campaigning for a third term in 2002.

"Norm Coleman's not going to change Washington. Why would he?" Franken asked. "For Norm Coleman and his special interest friends, Bush's Washington has worked just dandy."

Coleman is back in Washington this week for the last few weeks of the congressional term. Campaign manager Cullen Sheehan said Wednesday the Coleman campaign would compete for the votes of the 29 percent of Democratic primary voters who supported Franken's strongest primary opponent, attorney Patricia Lord Faris.

"We believe they will support a candidate who will work across the aisle, who has worked across the aisle," Sheehan said.

Also Wednesday, Sheehan unveiled three new TV ads that are to begin airing statewide. Two feature constituents praising Coleman's work on their behalf, including a couple who adopted a child from Guatemala with assistance from Coleman's office. In the third, former state Supreme Court Chief Justice Sandy Keith, a one-time Democratic lieutenant governor, criticizes Franken as unfit for the Senate.

Both campaigns still have millions of dollars in campaign funds waiting to be spent, and much of that money will be spent on the ad wars.

One potential wild card: Dean Barkley, the Independence Party nominee hoping to regain the seat he held briefly in 2002 as then-Gov. Jesse Ventura's appointee to finish Wellstone's term. Barkley topped six primary opponents Tuesday.

Elsewhere, voters in New York also picked candidates for congressional races Tuesday. In the Buffalo area, environmental lawyer Alice Kryzan won an upset in a heated Democratic primary to replace retiring Rep. Tom Reynolds, a one-time GOP power broker. Kryzan beat Iraq war veteran Jon Powers and millionaire Jack Davis, who received much more attention as they savaged each other.

A former star from MTV's "Real World" lost his bid to unseat a longtime Brooklyn congressman, Rep. Edolphus Towns. The 13-term Democratic incumbent defeated Kevin Powell, a community activist who appeared in the first season of the reality show.

Voters on Staten Island chose candidates to replace Republican Rep. Vito Fossella, who stepped aside after a drunken driving arrest led to revelations that he'd fathered a child with a woman who was not his wife. City Councilman Michael McMahon won the Democratic primary, while former state assemblyman Bob Straniere prevailed among Republicans.

Primaries were also held in New Hampshire, Vermont, Delaware, Wisconsin, Rhode Island and the District of Columbia. Some key results:

In New Hampshire's closely watched Senate race, Republican Sen. John Sununu and former Democratic Gov. Jeanne Shaheen easily won their primaries and resumed focus on their hard-fought rematch of 2002. Popular Democratic Gov. John Lynch easily defeated a retired teacher to seek a third two-year term.

New Hampshire's two House seats, now held by Democrats, were also in play. Former Rep. Jeb Bradley earned the Republican nod in one primary; Jennifer Horn, who put motherhood at the top of her resume, defeated four Republicans in the other race.

In the most expensive gubernatorial primary in Delaware history, state treasurer Jack Markell defeated Lt. Gov. John Carney. Markell, a Democrat, will face retired judge Bill Lee, who sealed the Republican nod.

Former Washington, D.C., mayor Marion Barry easily held off four challengers seeking his city council seat in the Democratic primary.

Wisconsin Republican Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner the state's only incumbent U.S. House member to face a primary challenge easily secured his nomination.

Associated Press writers Devlin Barrett in New York and Holly Ramer in Concord, N.H., contributed to this report.

Leave a comment