7 July 2009: Senator Al Franken is sworn in as Senator.

30 June 2009: Minnesota Supreme Court declares Democrat Al Franken the winner of the November 2008 US Senate contest. Norm Coleman to concede in Minnesota Senate dispute. Media reports indicate that now-former US Senator Norm Coleman (R-Minnesota) will concede, thus paving the way for Al Franken- the Democratic victor of the 2008 Election to the Class 2 seat from that State to be seated in the United States Senate.

Contested 4 November 2008 election: Al Franken (Democratic-Farmer Labor, 41.99%), Norm Coleman (Republican, 41.98%).

Winner of election to be determined (Technically, this seat is not actually "vacant"-- at least not in the ordinary sense of the term: for someone [either Mr. COLEMAN or Mr. FRANKEN] had already been elected via the voting results from 4 November 2008 to this seat for the term already begun 3 January 2009: it's just that we just don't yet know who officially, even though Mr. Franken has been formally certified the victor by State election authorities, pending the outcome of Mr. Coleman's contesting this certification-- only the U.S. Senate itself, under its constitutional authority to be the Judge of the Elections, Returns and Qualifications of its own Members [US Const.: Art. I, Sec. 5, clause 1], can refuse to seat either candidate and thereby declare the seat officially vacant, necessitating an eventual Special Election to fill the resultant vacancy: unless and until the Senate does so, this seat is better described as having been "suspended").