Mondale asked to replace dead senator

Mr Wellstone's death was a huge blow to the Democrats

By Fergal Parkinson BBC Washington correspondent

The family of a Democratic senator killed last week in the United States has asked former Vice-President Walter Mondale to replace him in the congressional race.

Senator Paul Wellstone, of Minnesota, was fighting a very close campaign to be re-elected in a seat crucial to the Democrats when his plane came down in bad weather.

Walter Mondale was Jimmy Carter's Vice-President in 1977

Mr Wellstone's death has taken away from the Democrats the balance of power in the Senate, making the 5 November mid-term elections in the state amongst the most crucial in the country.

Realising its importance, Senator Wellstone's family and the Democratic Party have now asked Mr Mondale to replace him.

Mr Mondale, aged 74, represented Minnesota in the Senate before he became Jimmy Carter's Vice-President in 1977.

Seven years later in 1984, he was the Democratic Party's presidential nominee in a failed bid to stop Republican Ronald Reagan from winning a second term.

He later served as Bill Clinton's ambassador to Japan.

The Democratic Party has until Thursday to announce a new candidate who will run against the Republican and Mayor of the City of St Paul, Norm Coleman.