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Live from New York Al Franken is a U.S. Senator!
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PHOTO: HARRIS/EXAMINER
Live from St. Paul, Minnesota finally has a new junior senator...
The Minnesota State Supreme Court today ruled that Democrat Al Franken is the state's junior senator, ending a seven month legal battle with Republican Senator Norm Coleman, which left the state with only one representative in the United States Senate.
Franken's win is a huge victory for Democrats, who now have a 60-member "super majority." The filibuster proof majority attained by Democrats tonight is going to be particularly important heading into Justice Sonia Sotomayor's confirmation hearings to be the next Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court.
"I look forward to working with Senator-Elect Franken to build a new foundation for growth and prosperity by lowering health care costs and investing in the kind of clean energy jobs and industries that will help America lead in the 21st century,” said President Barack Obama earlier this evening.
But for in a way,whether Coleman or Franken were to have won, New Yorkers would have a victory. Both Coleman and Franken have strong New York ties.
Franken lived in New York City and was both a writer and star of NBC's Saturday Night Live for many years.
Coleman grew up in Brooklyn, New York where he attended elementary and high school with this writer's mother.
At James Madison High School, Coleman had another well-known classmate, United States Senator Charles E. Schumer (D - New York), who served as Chairman of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, which helped fund Franken's campaign and legal defense.
Asked during a September interview about his ex-schoolmate, Schumer said, "Oy... I'll support Norm [Coleman], just not until after November." He later modified that to be "Once this election is decided..."
In separate interviews, both Coleman and Franken vowed not to forget their New York roots.
Now Mr. Franken goes to Washington, where Vice President Joe Biden will administer the oath of office.
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