Al Franken Celebrates Win at Minnesota Rally

July 1, 2009 -- Hot off a prolonged battle to become a U.S. senator, Democrat Al Franken celebrated his win over former Sen. Norm Coleman today at a long-planned victory rally in St. Paul, Minn.

"What we've been through is just nothing, especially when compared to what so many Minnesotans have been going through during this same period," Franken said, thanking his supporters, his volunteers, his staff and his wife.

Franken will dive right into the thick of things when he arrives in Washington, D.C., next week to be sworn in as Minnesota's junior senator.

His new committee assignments dictate that he'll immediately be thrown into the summer's two major issues dominating Capitol Hill -- health care legislation and the confirmation hearings for Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor. Franken said that he will serve on the Senate's Health, Education, Labor and Pensions committee, as well as the Judiciary panel. He is also assigned to serve on the Senate's Indian Affairs and Aging committees.

"You are jumping into a pot where we are absolutely in the middle of bringing about the greatest changes, the most progressive changes, in American history since the Great Depression," Rep. Keith Ellison, D-Minn., said at today's rally.

Rep. Betty McCollum, D-Minn, said, "We have a big agenda going on in Washington to put America back to work and we need to have Al Franken there to help us move that agenda forward."

Said Franken: "I wish I could take all of you to fight alongside me. But we cost it out and it's just too much."

The Minnesota Supreme Court Tuesday ruled in favor of comedian-turned-Democratic candidate Franken over Coleman in the 239-day battle for the job. Out of more than 2.4 million votes cast, Franken bested Republican Norm Coleman by 312 votes.

"I received a very gracious call from Sen. Coleman," Franken said Tuesday during a victory speech outside his Minnesota home. "He wished me well. And we agreed that it is time to bring this state together."

"The Supreme Court of Minnesota has spoken and I respect its decision and will abide by the result," Coleman said in a concession speech outside his home in St. Paul. "It's time for Minnesota to come together under the leaders it has chosen and move forward. I join all Minnesotans in congratulating our newest United States Senator – Al Franken."

In a phone conversation with Franken, Coleman added, he told the former Saturday Night Live cast member he is about to begin "the best job he'll ever have."

Coleman refused to speak about his own political future, saying he's now making decisions and plans to make an announcement next week.

Minnesota's Republican Gov. Tim Pawlenty has announced he is not running for re-election next year, which has created an open-seat contest for the state's highest job.

Franken Victory Gives Dems Super-Majority in Senate

Franken's victory provides Democrats with a super-majority in the U.S. Senate, with 60 seats on their side of the aisle.

President Barack Obama won't be able to count on all 60 votes on every single issue, but it provides a boost to the White House and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid as they enter into policy negotiations with the Republican leadership in the Senate.

Sixty votes are required to cut off a filibuster in the Senate. The seating of Franken potentially robs an embattled Republican Party of one of the strongest weapons of opposition in its arsenal.

"I'm not going to Washington to be the 60th Democratic senator, I'm going to Washington to be the second senator from the state of Minnesota and that is how I am going to do this job," Franken said Tuesday.

Reid of Nevada said, "The people of Minnesota will now finally get the brilliant and hardworking new senator they elected in November and the full representation they deserve. After all the votes have been counted and recounted, the Minnesota Supreme Court has made the final determination that Minnesotans have chosen Al Franken to help their state and our country get back on track."

Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., who has been flying solo as Minnesota's senator since January, also called today "the day we move forward."

"If there is a silver lining for all of the waiting and the patience that everyone had to go through in the last eight months, it is that Al has had time to prepare," Klobuchar said at the rally.

Timeline: Minnesota's Protracted Senate Battle

Coleman found himself ahead of Franken by 215 votes at the conclusion of the vote canvass in mid-November. The margin between the two candidates was less than one half of one percent, which automatically triggered a recount.

At the conclusion of the recount in January, Franken had overtaken Coleman's lead and the Minnesota State Canvassing Board certified the election results with a 225 vote victory for the Democrat.

The next day, the Coleman campaign filed a lawsuit in Minnesota state court contesting the results of the election. The three-judge panel that heard the Coleman contest allowed for consideration of only about 400 wrongly rejected absentee ballots. Coleman's legal team had argued for a far wider universe of thousands of absentee ballots to be re-examined because of what the Coleman campaign believed to be different treatment of absentees in different counties.

It was this decision to limit the scope of consideration to just 400 absentee ballots that served as a definitive blow to the Coleman campaign.

At the conclusion of the three-judge panel's work, it declared Franken the top vote-getter by a margin of 312 votes.

The Coleman campaign appealed the three-judge panel ruling to the full Minnesota Supreme Court, which heard oral arguments in the case on June 1.

The election certificate, signed by the governor and sealing Franken's win, is being delivered to the U.S. Senate.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.