Norm Coleman

Norm Coleman
Official portrait, 2005
United States Senator from Minnesota
In office January 3, 2003 – January 3, 2009
Preceded by	Dean Barkley
Succeeded by	Al Franken
52nd Mayor of Saint Paul
In office January 1, 1994 – January 1, 2002
Preceded by	James Scheibel
Succeeded by	Randy Kelly
Personal details
Born	Norman Bertram Coleman Jr. (1949-08-17) August 17, 1949 (age 75) New York City, U.S.
Political party	Republican (1996–present)
Other political affiliations	Democratic (before 1996)
Spouse	Laurie Casserly ​ (m. 1981)​
Children	4
Education	Hofstra University (BA) University of Iowa (JD)
Norm Coleman's voice Norm Coleman speaks on the threat of Iran Recorded March 2, 2006

Norman Bertram Coleman Jr. (born August 17, 1949) is an American politician, attorney, and lobbyist. From 2003 to 2009, he served as a United States Senator for Minnesota. From 1994 to 2002, he was mayor of Saint Paul, Minnesota. First elected as a member of the Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party (DFL), Coleman became a Republican in 1996. Elected to the Senate in 2002, he was narrowly defeated in his 2008 reelection bid. As of 2024, he is the most recent Republican to have represented Minnesota in the U.S. Senate.

Born in New York City, Coleman was elected mayor of Saint Paul, Minnesota's capital and second-largest city, in 1993 as a member of the Democratic Party. A liberal Democrat in his youth, Coleman shifted to conservatism as an adult. After conflicts with the Democratic Party over his conservative views, Coleman joined the Republican Party. He was reelected mayor a year later as a Republican. While serving as mayor, he was the Republican nominee in the 1998 Minnesota gubernatorial election, but lost to former professional wrestler and third-party candidate Jesse Ventura. As mayor of Saint Paul, he helped return the National Hockey League to Minnesota through the Minnesota Wild after an almost decade-long absence.

Coleman challenged incumbent Democratic Senator Paul Wellstone in the 2002 United States Senate election in Minnesota. After Wellstone died in a plane crash a few weeks before the election, he was replaced on the ballot by former Vice President Walter Mondale. Coleman defeated Mondale by over two points. He sought reelection in 2008. In one of the closest elections in the history of the Senate, he lost to former comedian Al Franken by 312 votes out of over three million cast (a margin of just over 0.01%). Since his defeat, Coleman has been a lobbyist and chairs both the Republican Jewish Coalition and the conservative American Action Network.