Norm Coleman was born in Brooklyn, New York. He received his B.A from Hofstra University and his J.D. with high honors from the University of Iowa. He served 17 years with the Minnesota Attorney General, holding the positions of Chief Prosecutor and Solicitor General of the State of Minnesota. He had served as the mayor of Saint Paul, Minnesota from 1994–2002. He had been elected as a Democrat and changed parties in 1996. He ran for governor of Minnesota in 1998 and lost to Jesse Ventura.
Coleman serves on four Senate committees including the Committee on Foreign Relations, the Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry Committee, and the Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship. He is also Chairman of the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations.