Comic's victory, eight months late

Comedian Al Franken has finally become a US Senator – eight months after the election.

The Minnesota Supreme Court ruled yesterday that the former Saturday Night Live regular won the seat for the Democrats.

His Republican rival Norm Coleman conceded within hours, ending the long-running fight over the result.

Franken won the poll by just 312 votes – in a contest where 2.9million votes were cast.

The first count after November 4 election gave Coleman, the incumbent, a narrow victory; but a recount put Franken ahead by a slither. This was then contested by Coleman, and now rejected by a panel of judges.

Franken was one of the original writers, and occasional performer, on Saturday Night Live from 1975 to 1980 and again from 1985 to 1995, and has also written a number of humorous books about politics, including Rush Limbaugh is a Big Fat Idiot and Other Observations.

Minnesota previously elected former professional wrestler Jesse Ventura governor in 1998.

Published: 1 Jul 2009