Minnesota Supreme Court affirms: Franken won US Senate seat
Published: June 30, 2009
Updated 4 months ago
Update: Former Senator Norm Coleman has conceded. Al Franken will be Minnesota’s new U.S. Senator.
It’s finally prime time for former Saturday Night Live writer Al Franken.
The Minnesota Supreme Court affirmed early Tuesday afternoon that Franken won the state’s senate seat from former Republican Senator Norm Coleman in a razor-thin election.
By the final count, Franken won by just 312 votes out of some 2.9 million.
Speaking to Politico, White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs exclaimed, “We’re pleased!” over the decision, which gives Senate Democrats a commanding, 60-vote majority.
“Al Franken received the highest number of votes legally cast and is entitled under Minn. Stat. § 204C.40 (2008) to receive the certificate of election as United States Senator from the State of Minnesota,” the court said in its ruling (PDF link).
“In light of that decision and Senator Coleman’s announcement that he will not be pursuing an appeal, I will be signing the election certificate today as directed by the court and applicable law,” Republican Governor Tim Pawlenty said on Tuesday.
“[The] earliest Franken would be seated is next week because the Senate is out of session for the July 4th holiday,” a spokesman for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid told the Associated Press.
“It’s been seven and a half months since Election Day, and five and a half months since the seat went vacant after Coleman’s term expired — but the state’s process of recounts and litigation is now over, barring the unlikely event of a higher authority stepping in and forcing them to do more,” noted Talking Points Memo.
This video is from MSNBC’s News Live, broadcast June 30, 2009.
Download video via RawReplay.com
Ron Brynaert contributed to this report.
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Oh and tell Randi Rhodes this is a good thing … she has a resentment against Al from the Air America days where he took top billing and she was angry about it … She has gone as far as to degrade him on her program … Way to go Franken. YES!
Oh and tell Randi Rhodes this is a good thing
—————————–
No one can tell that woman anything. That arrogant, condescending, big-headed piece of work can’t be told anything. Her head is larger than the Los Angeles Basin. I don’t know why anyone wastes their time listening to her. Actually, the same for most of these gasbags who park at a microphone and think that their opinions are more valuable than the rest of us. Some mealy mouthed people say, “well some talk show hosts help me figure all this stuff out.” Really? You don’t have the ability to do that all on your own? You have to be told what to think by some D or R partisan gasbag? jesus fuking christ.
As for Al Franken, who gives a fuk! The so-called “Dems” have a super-majority in congress and they have the White House with savior/ War Criminal Obushma, yet the War Criminal Bush agenda is continuing and will continue, just as some of us Nader and McKinney voters said would be the case.
Headline: Dems Commit Healthcare Suicide!
Sub: Mass Exodus from Party. Big mid-term wins for GOP ensured - sinking support for Obama re-election …
About friggin’ time.
I think Norm Coleman owes the people of Minnesota a huge apology, for wasting so much of everyone’s time, and for depriving the state of a legislative voice for almost the past 6 months.
YEAH!
(Finally!) Perhaps the public Option for health care can now be discussed!
Definitely about time. What a ridiculous waste of money this has been.
‘Fox News legal analyst Judge Andrew Napolitano said Tuesday that the appeal would be “a waste of Coleman’s money.” ‘
Correction: It’s not Coleman’s money being spent in these lawsuits. Coleman is fully backed the Plutocracy, because Coleman was one of their favorite corrupt tools. The Plutocracy’s pockets are bottomless, so don’t be surprised if the fool takes it to SCOTUS.
point of order here?
ITS NOT COLEMANS MONEY !!!
Its the GOP’s money ask Mitch (Bitch) McConnell, if the effort to deprive the peoples prerogative continues here it will be decided from the high echelons of the GOP, remember, they said is was WAR?
War, on the People? Pathetic.
got to love the precedent. Lets hear the repugs whine when a Dem loses a close one and ties it up in court for 7 months. Bet we hear a lot of weeping about representing the people from the talking heads then.
IOKIYAR
So, he’s the winner.. did the court also order Pawlenty to certify? …. because it sounds like he won’t unless the courts order him to do his job, which also sounds like, since he’s not willing to “do his job” without “court order”, its time to put someone else in that “job”.
Now it’s time for the Republican workers in the Supreme Court to step up and stop this. Four White men and one black token can change this quickly. Look they gave Bush the 2000 election when Gore won. Looks like Iran used the same blueprint to fix their election. Karl Rove should start a business on how to help criminal World Leaders fix their Presidential Elections as this is how the US does it. Yes we are the leader of Human Rights and Democracy as others should follow our lead by torturing innocent men/woman/children and fixing elections and openly lying and stealing.
With a 60th Senator
Our Democrats Lose the “filibuster” and “60 votes” Excuses
for not passing the legislation that rank and file Democrats
Want Passed.
With Total Power they should have no trouble passing
Single Payer, Prosecution of the WMD Lies,
Prosecution Of Those That Tortured In Our Name…
No More Excuses.
IF YOU Think that is true and believe that the Democrats should enforce our Federal Anti-Torture Laws please
SIGN THE PETITION
calling for prosecution of Bush’s Torturers
http://ANGRYVOTERS.ORG
,
no they don’t.. we have a lot of “blue dogs” or “wolves in sheep’s clothing” in the Congress. Plenty of pro-corporate “Democrat” whores to dismantle the process.
forget the two party system, it’s a lie.
Kennedy is not likely to vote due to his deteriorating medical condition. Byrd is in fragile health, having just been released from the hospital. We are still two senators short of a filibuster-proof senate.
We are still two senators short of a filibuster-proof senate.
——————————-
The reality is:
The so-called “Dems” could have EVERY SEAT IN THE HOUSE AND SENATE and the status quo would continue. One would have hoped that most people would have figured that out by now.
You live with illusions and delusions of who and what your precious so-called “Dems” are. They are NOT who and what you think they are and want them to be. When will you come out of your Denial and realize that? (Answer: Not any time soon.)
Your Bush-accomplice “Dems” have no interest in:
“Single Payer, Prosecution of the WMD Lies,
Prosecution Of Those That Tortured In Our Name…”
You refuse to grasp that the “Dems” would incriminate and implicate THEMSELVES in any serious investigations/hearings for War Criminals Bush/Cheney et al. The “Dems” served as accomplices so there is not a chance in hell that anything will be done about your little petition. In addition, the D and R War Criminal parasites in congress don’t care about petitions, phone calls, faxes, visits, protests, e-mails or anything else. They listen to their corporate and military industrial complex owners who are NOT you and me.
Your petition is a complete waste of time because you refuse to see who and what your “Dem Team” is about. The only person who would care about your petition is Dennis Kucinich. And as most people know who have been paying close attention, the D and R War Criminal parasites in congress don’t get anywhere near him. They want NOTHING to do with him. They run from him. They think he’s a nut, when THEY are the problem. Not Kucinich.
re: iamsam comment
“Prosecution of the WMD Lies,
Prosecution Of Those That Tortured In Our Name…”
Gee… samm
you attack the very people that agree with you on many issues.
On which foot should I stand when advocating for protecting our Constitution and Rule of Law,
for enforcing our Federal Anti-Torture Laws?
and oh yes…
What have you done today for these causes today,
except bitch at those
who are actually doing something.
Please contact the progressive groups whose 36 or 37 petitions we support and tell them all how worthless they all are.
Go ahead, we dare you.
The links are on our Website.
SIGN THE PETITION
To Prosecute Them
http://ANGRYVOTERS.ORG
.
Congratulations Senator Franken!
Norman pick up your balls and go home, no one wants to play with you any more, EVER again.
Remember Bush v. Gore. Just because you got the most votes doesn’t mean you won. Just because you won doesn’t mean you get to take office.
Why not seat Senator-elect Franken tomorrow?
>Why not seat Senator-elect Franken tomorrow?
Because this is the single worst thing that could ever happen to the Democrats, that’s why.
They are beginning to own the economy. They own the stimulus. The last thing they need is a filibuster proof majority in the Senate.
Mark my words, and I said this before Obama was even inaugurated, the economy is taking a shit, he’s going to spend like mad the whole time, it won’t help and he’s going to look like Jimmy Carter in his stupid cardigan, bitching about the “economic malaise” and telling everybody to turn down their thermostat.
Unless something changes, by 2012, there won’t be a Republican in sight to blame for any of this. You can’t spend trillions of dollars chasing ideological windmills and not be blamed for the inflation and unemployment you’ve created. Blaming Emperor Bush won’t work by then. (Although polls show people are, rightfully, still blaming him for his role at present.) By then, it will be Obama and the Democrats economy, they’ll be in charge, and they’ll take the heat for it.
And there’s going to be ALLOT of heat..
“telling everybody to turn down their thermostat. ”
“Unless something changes, by 2012,”
The point is, the public is fat, ignorant, greedy, lazy, and pathetic. What needs to “change” is the people.. they need to turn down their damn thermostats, but won’t.
We could save hundreds of millions of gallons of gasoline a year by doing something pretty simple.. “properly inflating tires of our vehicles”.. but that, apparently, is too much to ask Americans to do to help save their country and economy.
Stop putting all the blame on the “leaders”; the public put those leaders in charge.. pretty stupid.
No, no.. Its WAY more than just gasoline and thermostat settings, Svanster. Very shortly the democrats will own everything from their own version of Romeny care to double digit unemployment.
There will be no one else to blame, they are in control. There will be heat. Allot of it, if their policies don’t work.. And I don’t think they will.
“Stop putting all the blame on the “leaders”; the public put those leaders in charge.”
Are you kidding me? We had the same shitty choices we’ve had for the last two decades.. This time we were trapped between Napoleon and Karl Marx. Last time we had to choose between elite bonesmen. Before that we had a pair of retard bookends.
Change? lol..
PS: Why are yo so down on teh Maericans?
How stupid can they be? After all, they put the democrats in power. Total power.
Now they’re stupid? I thought you’d be happy!
Congrats Senator Franken!! Coleman and the GOP should be held accountable for their part in denying a second senator for the people in Minnesota. Sure, they had a right to demand a fair recount…not a problem there, but they went well beyond that….well beyond.
This is possibly the dumbest election ever done … almost time to get ready for re-election … and there is still a possibility of an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.
We may have 60 dem votes ,but we still have those blue dogs republican moles that vote republican. Until we can get them out we will still struggle for something for the people..
DEAR MR.HOOVER …
The Dems will NEVER own the economy because the Conservative/GOP/Christians started the Bogus BANKRUPTING WARS. Don’t spin this mess on the Liberals. Also, shouldn’t Frankin serve 6 years starting TODAY??
Don’t think you can run trillion dollar deficits forever and blame the republicans.
Yes, their trillion dollar wars started this. Everyone knows that and, according to poll numbers, Americans are sympathetic. For now.
To expect this situation to continue indefinitely, and in the face of absolutely massive spending is simply unrealistic. It has no historical precedent and makes no sense.
PARDON …the Dems will never own THIS economy.
Saying it over and over is just whistling past the graveyard.
Policy is where the rubber meets the road. Americans voted for change. They expect a positive change. If they don’t get it, they’re going to blame democrats.
It is very simple.
If a person examines the final tallies for the MN elections, 57% of MN voted AGAINST the conservatives. Barkley was more closely aligned with the Democrats. Even stanch Republicans in MN are furious over the Coleman distraction (and embarrassment). The ONLY reason Coleman won the election in the first place was because of an airplane crash. He was no where close in the polls -and time proved those polls correct.
I agree with midwestspirit. I live in Minneapolis and we have had the election of two national embarrassments in the form of Tim Pawlenty (who puts his own political ambitions above the needs of the people of this state) and the freaky Michele Bachmann all because of a third party candidate in each race. Neither Pawlenty nor Bachmann, to my knowledge, won a majority.
They were only elected by a plurality, and midwestspirit is right. This whole debacle in the recent senate race would have been avoided had Barkley not run as a third party candidate. Al would have won handily.
We need instant runoff voting.
>I agree with midwestspirit. I live in Minneapolis…
Oh fuck.. How do you stand it?
Between the traffic and the weather, I’m amazed Minneapolis/St. Paul isn’t the suicide capital of the world.
Ah, the NeoCon Coffin is sealed. America may be secure again. The dark age is over. Now if we can just convince Obama to investigate and prosecute for torture, warrantless wiretapping and the outing of Plame!
TGIF, Thank G-d it’s Franken! Finally. I hope O’Reilly implodes.
Congratulations, SENATOR Franken!
It’s about fucking time.
Congrats Senator Franken!