Former senator Norm Coleman — a man familiar with Democrats’ electoral machinations — has a piece of advice for Republican Tom Foley: Keep fighting.

Foley is in an ongoing battle with Democrat Dan Malloy over the governorship of Connecticut. On Tuesday, polling stations in Bridgeport — a bastion of blue votes — ran out of ballots, leading to long lines and a flight of frustrated voters. Eventually, poll workers started photocopying ballots — which is legally suspect — and a judge ordered the polls to remain open two hours after those in the rest of the state closed — also legally suspect. The secretary of state has yet to release the election’s official results, but the Associated Press now has Malloy ahead by 6,240 votes with all but ten precincts in Bridgeport reporting. Malloy may win by a margin large enough to avoid a recount — the state requires one only if the margin is fewer than 2,000 votes — but Foley may have a case about voting irregularities.

“You’re no longer in the process of earning votes,” Coleman tells NRO. “It’s about counting votes.” He points out that he won his race against Sen. Al Franken when Minnesota counted only those ballots cast on Election Day. Once Democrats got new ballots included, however, he lost.

“My advice is, don’t worry about the local aspect of this. It’s a legal proceeding; you need legal folks who have done this before. They need to be aggressive rather than sit back, be nice, and allow the other side to overwhelm you. Don’t worry about the PR; It really is about making sure that it is a fair and legitimate count,” Coleman says.

Connecticut’s secretary of state says she will announce the official tally later today.