First a recount, then a trial?

"It could be," said Republican Party chair Tony Sutton. "We think there are some legitimate issues."

Sutton said among the issues that the Republicans could ask a court to consider, after the Dec. 14 end of the gubernatorial recount.

Among the issues he mentioned: reconcilliation and vouching.

Reconciliation is the process local election officials go through on Election Night to match the number of votes to the number of voters and remove any excess votes. Republicans claim that wasn't properly done.

The GOP, on Republican gubernatorial candidate Tom Emmer's behalf, asked the Minnesota Supreme Court to review that claim. The court reviewed it quickly and denied it.

But Sutton said that matter is still "a potential issue in a contest."

The Republicans haven't fully raised any issue on vouching publicly. In Minnesota, a pre-registered voter can "vouch" for unregistered voters on Election Day to allow them to register.

Sutton said Republicans hadn't yet decided on whether to file a post-recount lawsuit.

"We are reviewing our options," he said.

A lawsuit could delay the end of the governor's race for weeks or months.

Meanwhile, Sutton said the GOP had raised "quite a bit" for the post-election recount.

He would not say how much but did say they hadn't raised over a million dollars, as Democrat Mark Dayton's team has.

"We've raised enough to do what we need to do to represent in Tom Emmer's interests," Sutton said.