Interim mulled for Senate seat

By Chris Welch
CNN
ST. PAUL, Minnesota (CNN) - Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty is quietly looking into whether he will need to step into the lingering battle between Republican incumbent Norm Coleman and Democrat Al Franken in the nation's only remaining unresolved U.S. Senate race.

The Republican governor's spokesman, Brian McClung, told CNN Thursday that the governor's office has asked the general counsel to Pawlenty "to begin looking into ... what might trigger the need for a gubernatorial appointment to the U.S. Senate."

While the recount continues - now more than six weeks after the election - the possibility that a winner will not be declared by the congressional swearing in on January 6 becomes greater and greater.