Al Franken didn’t just leave the building; he vanished into a whirlwind of national debate that still hasn't quite settled.
It was 2018. One minute, he was the sharp-tongued progressive hero who made Jeff Sessions sweat during committee hearings. The next, he was reading a resignation speech on the Senate floor, surrounded by a heavy silence from colleagues who had been his closest allies just days before.
Honestly, the story of the former Minnesota senator is a weird, messy mix of comedy, policy-wonkery, and a sudden downfall that many people still argue about over dinner. Some see him as a victim of a "rush to judgment" during the height of the MeToo movement. Others see a man whose past finally caught up with his present.
The 312-Vote Victory That Changed Everything
Most people forget how close Al Franken came to never being a senator at all.
It took eight months. Eight months of counting, recounting, and legal bickering. When the dust finally settled in the 2008 election against incumbent Norm Coleman, Franken won by exactly 312 votes. Out of nearly three million cast.
That’s a margin of 0.01%.
Because of that razor-thin win, he entered D.C. with a massive chip on his shoulder. He knew the "Saturday Night Live" jokes were waiting. He knew the GOP was ready to call him a "clown." So, he did something nobody expected: he went completely silent.
He stopped doing national TV. He hired a "De-Humorizer" (his own term) to scrub the jokes from his speeches. He became a "workhorse, not a show horse," focusing on things like the Medical Loss Ratio in the Affordable Care Act. It was boring stuff. And it worked. By the time 2014 rolled around, he didn't just win reelection; he cruised to victory with over 53% of the vote.
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The Policy Wonk in the Giant’s Shoes
Franken’s political North Star was always Paul Wellstone.
Wellstone was the legendary Minnesota senator who died in a plane crash in 2002, a man who believed "politics is about the improvement of people's lives." Franken took that seriously. He sat on the Judiciary Committee and the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee.
He wasn't just there for the cameras.
- He pushed for Net Neutrality before it was a mainstream talking point.
- He grilled tech CEOs about privacy and data collection long before the 2016 election interference made it a headline.
- He was a key player in the Affordable Care Act, specifically ensuring that insurance companies had to spend at least 80% of premiums on actual healthcare.
It was a strange transformation. The man who wrote Rush Limbaugh Is a Big Fat Idiot was now the guy citing sub-clauses in healthcare legislation. You've gotta admit, it was a hell of a pivot.
The 2017 Resignation: A Timeline of the Collapse
The end came fast. It started with a photo from a 2006 USO tour.
Leeann Tweeden, a radio host, released a picture showing Franken with his hands hovering over her chest while she slept on a military plane. She also accused him of forcibly kissing her during a rehearsal for a skit. Franken apologized, saying it was intended to be funny but clearly wasn't. He called for an ethics investigation into himself.
But then more women came forward.
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Eventually, eight women had made various allegations of groping or inappropriate touching, mostly at photo ops or campaign events. On December 6, 2017, a tidal wave of Democratic senators—led by Kirsten Gillibrand—called for him to step down.
He resigned on January 2, 2018.
The fallout was immediate and divisive. To this day, several of those senators, including Patrick Leahy and Bill Nelson, have publicly expressed regret for calling for his resignation without a full Ethics Committee hearing. Jane Mayer’s 2019 report in The New Yorker further fueled the "what if" fires, questioning the validity of some claims and the speed of the political execution.
Where is Al Franken Now? (The 2026 Perspective)
If you’re looking for him today, you won’t find him in St. Paul or D.C.
He’s back to being a "media person," though with a much heavier coat of armor. Since leaving the Senate, he’s launched The Al Franken Podcast, where he interviews everyone from Chris Murphy to Jimmy Kimmel. He's also returned to the stage, touring with his "The Only Former U.S. Senator Currently on Tour Tour."
He even returned to TV, guest-hosting The Daily Show and appearing in the 2025 series The Residence as—ironically enough—a senator.
But the "Senator" title is still a sore spot. In interviews, he’s been candid about his regret over resigning. He’s basically admitted that he wishes he’d waited for the ethics process to play out. It’s a classic "what could have been" scenario in American politics. Had he stayed, would he have been a 2020 contender? Maybe.
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What Most People Get Wrong About the Legacy
There’s a misconception that Al Franken was "canceled" and disappeared.
That’s not quite right. He’s still a powerhouse fundraiser for Democrats. He still writes op-eds about the filibuster and Supreme Court reform. The real tragedy, regardless of where you stand on the allegations, is the loss of a specific kind of legislative effectiveness. He was one of the few people who could be genuinely funny and terrifyingly informed at the same time.
Minnesota has moved on, with Tina Smith now holding his seat comfortably. But the "Franken Era" remains a cautionary tale about the intersection of partisan pressure, the MeToo movement, and the brutal speed of modern political cycles.
Next Steps for Following the Al Franken Story:
If you want to understand the full scope of his legislative impact versus his comedy roots, start by reading his 2017 memoir, Al Franken, Giant of the Senate. It was written right before the fall, and the irony in those pages is palpable.
You can also check out the 2019 New Yorker investigation by Jane Mayer for a look at the evidence that the Senate never officially reviewed. Finally, keep an eye on his 2026 tour dates; he often uses the Q&A sessions to address the "why" of his resignation in a way he never quite did on the Senate floor.