He didn’t get the chance to say it on the stand, under cross-examination in the Senate election-contest trial. But Minnesota Deputy Secretary of State Jim Gelbmann, a Democrat, voted Nov. 4 for neither Al Franken nor Norm Coleman, opting instead for Independence Party candidate Dean Barkley. Franken’s attorney was leading him with a line of questions on the subject this afternoon and was just getting to a recent profile in his hometown newspaper in which Gelbmann revealed how he voted. But an objection from Coleman’s legal team was sustained before Gelbmann could tout his ticket-splitting.

Franken’s team was trying to show that Gelbmann — who ran a statewide U.S. Senate campaign for Democrat Mark Dayton and then ran his local office after his election —  could conduct his duties without partisanship.

Acknowledging his feelings towards Franken and Coleman in open court seems like it would have helped make that argument. Gelbmann told the South Washington County Bullentin in a Jan. 22 article:

I was disgusted with the campaigns by both candidates. I couldn’t stomach the negative ads, which were way out for Minnesota standards.

Smaller newspapers are turning up intriguing bits to some of the second-tier stars of the Minnesota Senate election drama. Yesterday another suburban newspaper carried a profile of Coleman attorney Fritz Knaak in which he made (passing) reference to a (conjectural) Coleman concession and offered other insights into the Republican’s legal squadron.