WASHINGTON -- It's been five years and one day since Sen. Al Franken was sworn in to represent Minnesota.
Franken and former GOP Sen. Norm Coleman tangled by mere hundreds of Minnesota votes in the 2008 election in what was one of the closest Senate races in the history of the union. It took seven months of legal battles before a three-judge panel concluded Franken narrowly won the election by 312 votes.
Coleman appealed that decision to the Minnesota Supreme Court, which ultimately rejected the appeal June 30, 2009. The junior senator was sworn in July 7, 2009.
Franken joked at the DFL convention in May that he was going to win again in November, "by more than last time."
On Tuesday he said his bid for re-election is really just "building on the work I've been doing day in and day out."
"There's a cliche in the Senate, which is kind of true, which is there are showhorses and workhorses," he said. "I knew I wanted to be a workhorse and get things done."
