In one of this year's more unusual high-profile political matchups, well-known satirist and former Saturday Night Live cast member Al Franken, a Democrat, is challenging incumbent Republican Norm Coleman for one of Minnesota's seats in the United States Senate.

A former Democrat, Coleman served as mayor of St. Paul, chief prosecutor for the state's Attorney General's Office and state solicitor general. He has a bachelor's degree from Hofstra University and a law degree from the University of Iowa.

Franken, whose family moved to Minnesota when he was 4 years old, is a well-known comedian and liberal commentator. The Harvard University alumnus was a Saturday Night Live cast member from the 1970s to the 1990s. He also hosted a radio program on the Air America network and has authored several political satire books.

Although Coleman's Senate seat has been considered vulnerable due to the recent economic downturn and the GOP's role in an increasingly unpopular war in Iraq, Franken's candidacy has generated controversy -- namely for his off-color comedy and the revelation that he paid $70,000 in back taxes to 17 states, according to the Minneapolis Star-Tribune.

"[Franken's] hope is that economic issues, not personal ones, will dominate the fall campaign," Politico's John Kraushaar wrote. "But with the local media so far focused squarely on Franken's controversial comments, the race has become more of a referendum on his humor than on Coleman's ties to the Bush administration."

Coleman has previous experience running in high-profile races against celebrity candidates. In 1998, he lost in a three-way gubernatorial race to independent candidate and former pro wrestler Jesse Ventura. Four years later, Coleman was elected to the Senate after Democratic Sen. Paul Wellstone was killed in an airplane crash and was replaced on the ticket by former Vice President Walter Mondale.

The Coleman-Franken battle continues to raise records amounts of campaign contributions. The fundraising total for the race (including early Democratic primary challenger Mike Ciresi) has exceeded $27 million in the just first quarter, according to Minnesota Public Radio. So far, it's the priciest Senate race in the country. By late June, the candidates had already broken the state fundraising record for a Senate race by $2 million.

As of July, Coleman held a solid polling lead over rival Franken. Pollster.com, which averages public opinion polls, shows Coleman beating Franken 50.5 percent to 41.9 percent. A recent Quinnipiac University poll put Coleman 10 points ahead of Franken.

"What a Senate challenger needs to do is put the incumbent in the spotlight, and unfortunately, Al Franken has drawn the spotlight on himself," Carleton College political science professor told Politico. "That's exactly the opposite of what a challenger needs to do."

-- By Dave Gustafson, Online NewsHour