AFSCME members joined Senator-elect Al Franken for a victory rally at the State Capitol July 1. They celebrated his hard-fought and heavily-litigated victory and paid tribute to the late Senator Paul Wellstone. “Paul's legacy endures in the hard work and unyielding spirit of many men and women who carry on his vision of political organizing and his vision of a world where the common good triumphs over special interests,” said Franken. “I wish I could take you all, all of you, to Washington with me, to fight alongside me," he later added. "But we cost it out. And it's just too much." Watch the rally on The Uptake.

AFSCME's Laura Askelin and Jen Guertin were among the tireless volunteers whom Franken thanked.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

"Well, it was close," said Franken to the laughter of the crowd, alluding to his final certified victory margin of 312 votes out of about 2.9 million. "But we won!"

"And when you win an election by this close a margin, you know that not one bit of effort went to waste," he later added. "And so I want to thank every single person who knocked on a door, marched in a parade, made a phone call, gave money, gave time, gave energy, gave of themselves to this effort. Thank all of you, thank you, thank you, thank you."

Less than an hour before the victory rally, which was co-sponsored by AFSCME, the signed election certificate naming Franken as Minnesota's next Senator arrived at the Office of the Secretary of the U.S. Senate. The certificate bears the signatures of both Governor Tim Pawlenty and Secretary of State Mark Ritchie and makes it official: the drawn-out Senate race is over.

The rally was eight months in the making. Here’s the Senate race by the numbers:

238 Days it took until Minnesota had a winner
312 votes Al Franken’s margin of victory
2.9 million Votes cast
$50 million Cost of the U.S. Senate campaign
$12 million Cost of the recount
60 Votes now aligned with Senate Democrats for a filibuster-proof majority