Sen. Norm Coleman has increased his lead over DFLer Al Franken, 50 percent to 43 percent, in the latest Rasmussen Reports telephone survey. It marks the first time the Republican incumbent has hit 50 percent in polling matchups.

Update: The Rasmussen survey, which was conducted among 500 likely voters on Tuesday, also shows that either of the Democratic presidential candidates would defeat Sen. John McCain in Minnesota. The poll shows Sen. Barack Obama leading McCain 52 percent to 38 percent and Sen. Hillary ahead 47 percent to 42 percent.

In Minnesota's Senate race, Franken, of course, still faces an opponent, Jack Nelson-Pallmeyer, for DFL endorsement. There was no survey of what the outcome of a matchup between Nelson-Pallmeyer and Coleman would be.

The survey does show that Coleman has gained ground on Franken since last month, when he had only a 2-point lead. Two months ago, Franken had a slight lead over Coleman.

Coleman's strongest support comes from men, who favor the incumbent by 19 points. Women lean to Franken by 4 points. Coleman is viewed favorably by 55 percent of the respondents, an increase of 3 points from last month. Franken is viewed favorably by 48 percent, the same number he had in March. — Doug Grow