Fifty-four percent (54%) of Minnesota voters say Republican incumbent Norm Coleman should concede the race after months of legal challenges and let Al Franken be seated in the U.S. Senate. But 41% disagree.

Predictably, the latest Rasmussen Reports telephone survey of Minnesota voters shows that 87% of Democrats want Coleman to quit, while 77% of Republicans want him to stay in the fight. Most (53%) of those not affiliated with either major party say that Coleman should concede.

Sixty-three percent (63%) of all voters in the state are now convinced that Franken will ultimately be named the winner of the Senate race. Just 16% say Coleman will win in the end. Twenty-one percent (21%) are still not sure who the winner will be.

Franken’s recent success in the courts is mirrored in the 16-point jump over the last two months in the number of voters who think he ultimately will win. In early March, 47% said Franken will win, while 35% said Coleman will be reelected to a second term. In December, 67% expected Coleman to win.

Eighty-eight percent (88%) of Democrats and two-thirds of unaffiliateds (66%) now say Franken will prevail. Republicans are closely divided on the outcome of the race.

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The state Supreme Court will hear arguments on June 1 on Franken’s lawsuit to force Governor Tim Pawlenty to sign an election certificate naming him senator. Pawlenty has indicated he may hold up on the certificate if Coleman takes his case to the U.S. Supreme Court.

However, 67% of Minnesota voters say Pawlenty should sign the certificate naming Franken the winner if the state Supreme Court rules in the Democrat’s favor. Twenty-five percent (25%) disagree.

If Franken wins before the Minnesota high court, 65% believe he should be seated by the U.S. Senate as the state’s second senator, but 24% say Franken should not be seated without an election certificate from the Governor.

For Republicans, Coleman’s defeat will be the final chapter in the electoral beating they took in the 2008 elections. Most Republicans say their representatives in Congress are still out of touch with the party’s base. While just 37% of Republicans believe their party is leaderless, there is no agreement on who the leader might be.

The favorables for the two Senate candidates are now identical. Forty-four percent (44%) of Minnesota voters have a favorable opinion of both Coleman and Franken. Fifty-five percent (55%) regard the two men unfavorably.

Ninety-two percent (92%) say they have followed recent news stories about the Franken-Coleman race at least somewhat closely, with 47% saying they have followed Very Closely. Only one percent (1%) of the state’s voters now say they have not followed recent news reports at all.

Coupled with Republican Senator Arlen Specter’s decision to switch to the Democratic Party, a Franken win would give Democrats a 60-senator filibuster-proof majority in the U.S. Senate. That’s one reason why 42% of voters nationwide said Specter’s decision to change parties will have a significant impact on the laws passed by the Senate.

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