Al Franken wins! (but you already knew that)

It's taken them long enough:

The Minnesota Supreme Court on Tuesday ordered that Democrat Al Franken be certified as the winner of the state's long-running Senate race, paving the way for a resolution in the seven-month fight over the seat.

The court ruled unanimously in favor of Franken over cry-baby Norm Coleman's idiotic appeals (though he may try to take it to the U.S. Supreme Court, but fat chance of that). Gov. Tim Pawlenty had previously said he'd sign the certificate of election unless ordered not to.

Hopefully, Franken will be certified the winner immediately and can take his seat when the Senate returns from its Fourth of July recess. The Democrats will have the coveted 60 seats, although we've noted before that this only makes their caucus filibuster-proof if they all vote together.

Still, this is a day of justice in what has been an insanely-long road to victory. I love Al Franken, and I simply can't wait to see him as a freakin' United States Senator!

UPDATE: At long last, the loser concedes.

Tedisco concedes, but Norm Coleman's not going anywhere soon

The NY-20 special election to replace Kirsten Gillibrand (who replaced Hillary Clinton in the Senate) is now over. Jim Tedisco conceded today to Scott Murphy, a Democrat who started well behind in this Republican-majority district and went on to deny Republicans any sign that the country likes them more than they did on November 4th of last year. That makes 256 Democrats to 178 Republicans in the House, with 1 seat still vacant.

Meanwhile, the never-ending Minnesota election continues. The state supreme court won't hear oral arguments on appeal until June 1st. But Coleman has promised a federal appeal if he loses that, so this thing could go on for several more months, through the summer and possibly fall, denying Senate Democrats the 59th seat that is rightfully theirs. Of course, that's the whole point...