After two days of recounting votes in Minnesota, Sen. Norm Coleman led Al Franken by just 136 votes with 46% of the 2.9 million ballots counted, the Minneapolis Star Tribune reports.

Ramsey County elections manager Joe Mansky said things went smoothly Thursday, although he noted some tension in the morning as campaign observers asked to look at both sides of the ballots to see if any irregularities existed.

"The closeness of the race is raising the emotions, and both campaigns are trying everything they can," Mansky said. "Instructions have clearly come down from both campaigns to look at every avenue we can to make sure all our votes get counted."

In Georgia, Democratic challenger Jim Martin has some outside help on the way, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports. Barack Obama has recorded a new radio ad for Martin, which you can read or listen to here. Also, the AFL-CIO has said it will have some 10,000 volunteers in the state over the next two weekends.

Martin and Sen. Saxby Chambliss will face off in a Dec. 2 runoff.