While Republican Norm Coleman plans an appeal in Minnesota's U.S. Senate contest, Democrat Al Franken is taking steps to be ready to take office.

Franken is putting together a staff.

Monday he announced Alana Petersen as his Minnesota state director.

Petersen previously worked as Congressman Jim Oberstar's political director and director of field operations. She also worked as deputy chief of staff to Congressman David Minge.

Franken said, "Drawing on her wealth of experience and her ability to reach out to every constituency in Minnesota, when I have the privilege of being certified, she'll work with me to ensure that we hit the ground running on Day One."

Coleman could appeal his Senate case to the Minnesota Supreme Court as early as Monday.

Coleman is appealing a special three-judge panel's ruling that Franken won 312 more votes in the 2008 election. The former senator argues that some local officials were more diligent than others about verifying whether voters complied with absentee ballot standards, causing thousands of ballots to be rejected that could have counted elsewhere. He plans to invoke the Constitution's equal-protection clause.

Last week's unanimous ruling by the three-judge panel said local officials used reasonable latitude in administering the election and equal protection doesn't require "rigid sameness."

The Associated Press contributed to this story.

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