That's not the way it would have gone. The Independent very likely took more votes from Franken than Coleman.
I’m not well versed on Minnesota politics so I’ll take your word for it. Whoever won a runoff would be legitimate though. The margin of victory would be higher most likely and the victory wouldn’t be tainted.
The independent that took 14% of the vote was a constitution-type party candidate. No way he took votes from Franken. He was just another protest vote against the incumbent for being a RINO.