Dean Barkley, Franken Win In Minnesota Party Primaries

September 10, 2008 7:46 a.m. EST

St. Paul, MN (AHN) - Former 'Saturday Night Live' writer Al Franken trounced six other Democrats to become the official candidate of the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party (DFL) to challenge Sen. Norm Coleman (R-MN) in November.

Franken defeated Priscilla Lord Faris, an attorney and the daughter of Judge Miles Lord, 70-27 percent in the party primary on Tuesday. Other contenders, Alve Erickson, Rob Fitzgerald, Dick Franson, Bob Larson and Ole Savior, received marginal votes.

"The choice is now clear for Minnesotans: will we stay the course with Norm Coleman and his support of George Bush's failed agenda - or will we set a new course for our middle-class families and a new direction for our country?," Franken said in an emailed statement before congratulating his Republican rival.

Coleman won a landslide as expected against a challenger who waged his campaign from Italy to avoid an arrest warrant. The first-term senator beat back Jack Shepard in the Republican primary with 92 percent of the vote.

Franken and Coleman will be joined on the ballot by former Minnesota Sen. Dean Barkley, who won the nomination of the Independence Party against six other contenders with about 60 percent of the vote. Challengers for Barkely, who served briefly in the U.S. Senate in 2002 after the death of former Minnesota Sen. Paul Wellston, included former Jesse Ventura adviser Jack Uldrich.