As in all things, the Minnesota Senate race came down to basketball today.

The lead attorneys for Republican Norm Coleman and Democrat Al Franken arguing before the Minnesota Supreme Court today are from rival schools.

Coleman's attorney, Joe Friedberg, went to UNC-Chapel Hill for undergraduate and law school.

Franken's attorney, Marc Elias, went to Duke University for a master's degree and law school.

The session was slated to last 50 minutes, a little longer than an NCAA basketball game.

Hat Tip: A Dome reader

Correction: Another Dome reader, who knew Elias, points out we incorrectly stated he went to Duke for undergrad. 

U.S. Sen. Richard Burr's leadership PAC gave $308,500 to federal candidates last year.

The Next Century Fund, a political action committee affiliated with the Winston-Salem Republican, contributed $212,500 to 25 Senate candidates and $96,000 to 39 House candidates, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. All were Republican.

Several were from North Carolina. Burr gave $5,000 apiece to former Sen. Elizabeth Dole, former Rep. Robin Hayes, Rep. Patrick McHenry and Rep. Sue Myrick.

He also gave $1,000 to Augustus Cho, who ran unsuccessfully for the GOP nomination to face Democratic Rep. David Price.

Nationally, Burr's PAC lent a hand to GOP candidates in competitive races, including Sens. John McCain, Norm Coleman and Ted Stevens.

In all, the PAC spent $627,704, including donations to the National Republican Senatorial Committee and the N.C. Republican Party, fundraising and travel expenses and rent.

It ended the year with $126,202 in cash on hand.

The endless Minnesota Senate recount is affecting Sen.-elect Kay Hagan too.

As Sen. Norm Coleman and Sen.-maybe-elect Al Franken dispute the validity of ballots, they're not just holding up the Senate seat, they're holding up the offices too.

Because Senate offices are distributed by seniority, they cannot be distributed until it's determined whether Minnesota will be represented by a first- or second-term senator.

That's put Hagan on hold too.

Spokeswoman Colleen Flanagan said the senator-elect will move into expanded temporary office space in the basement of the Dirksen Senate Office Building.

"They've expanded it to give us a little more room — not a whole lot," she said. 

U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Dole also ranks poorly compared to the rest of her class.

Of the nine senators elected in 2002 still in office, Dole is ranked eighth in power rankings put together by the nonpartisan Congressional data company Knowlegis.

Here's the ranks of her classmates:

Lamar Alexander: 32nd
Lindsey Graham: 60th
Saxby Chambliss: 61st
Mark Pryor: 62nd
John Cornyn: 80th
Norm Coleman: 82nd
John Sununu: 89th
Elizabeth Dole: 93rd
Lisa Murkowski: 96th

Except for Pryor, all of Dole's 2002 classmates are Republicans.

Knowlegis cofounder Brad Fitch said that comparing senators to others who took office in the same year is the best way to gauge their power, since seniority gives senators more power. 

U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Dole will spend the rest of the congressional recess raising money for her re-election race.

After an official speech Wednesday night at the Volvo trucking company in Greensboro and another this morning to female real estate agents in High Point, Dole is turning her attention to fundraising, reports Barb Barrett.

Dole has several private, one-on-one meetings scheduled in the next few days. After that, she heads to Minnesota for a fundraiser March 27 with Sen. Norm Coleman. She returns to the Triangle on March 29 for two fundraisers at private homes in Raleigh and Cary.

Congress is in recess through March 31.

U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Dole joined five other senators in co-sponsoring climate change legislation.

Sens. Joseph Lieberman of Connecticut and John Warner of Virginia have worked for several months to draft America's Climate Security Act, a bill introduced today that is designed to lower greenhouse gas emissions, Barb Barrett reports.

The bill's goal is to reduce total U.S. greenhouse-gas emissions by as much as 19% below the 2005 level in the next 13 years, and by as much as 63% below the 2005 level in 2050.

The bill allows companies to save, borrow and trade emission allowances. Companies could earn credits by "inducing" other non-covered businesses such as farms to reduce their greenhouse-gas emissions.

"The solution to this serious problem is not inaction," Dole said in a statement. "We must ensure clean air for future generations, and this is a responsible, market-driven approach that strengthens our economy, competitiveness and security."

Other co-sponsors include Democratic Sens. Tom Harkin of Iowa, Benjamin Cardin of Maryland, Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, and Republican Sens. Norm Coleman of Minnesota and Susan Collins of Maine.

The legislation is supported by both the National Wildlife Federation and Environmental Defense.

A Duke University professor who was considering a run for the U.S. Senate — in Minnesota — has decided against diving into the political world.

Peter Agre, a Nobel Prize winning chemist and vice chancellor at Duke, spent the summer talking with people in his home state of of Minnesota about entering the Democratic primary for a possible shot at challenging Republican Sen. Norm Coleman, the Associated Press is reporting.

"As much as I'd like to run, I've decided it's just not the time to step in," Agre told the AP.

That, according to the AP, leaves two front-runners for the Democratic nomination — attorney Mike Ciresi and comedian Al Franken.

Hat tip: Jane Stancill