From dKosopedia

The Contenders

Incumbent Paul Wellstone, Democrat-Farmer-Labor (DFL)

Norm Coleman, Republican

The Significance

Paul Wellstone, a two-term Senator who today is considered one of the greatest liberal icons of the late twentieth century, faced a tough challenge from Norm Coleman, a former mayor of St. Paul who had lost the 1998 gubernatorial race to Jesse Ventura. As the campaign was coming to a close, Wellstone, his wife and his political advisors took a plane trip to Northern Minnesota. The plane crashed, killing everyone on board, including the Senator. With literally days to go before the election, the Minnesota DFL party asked former Vice-President Walter "Fritz" Mondale to run for the seat. Meanwhile, the funeral for Wellstone turned into a sort of liberal rally, as fans of the late Senator gathered to pay their last respects. Analysts say that the backlash over the rally may have been enough to put Coleman over the top. Coleman won by a narrow margin over Mondale.