Contributor

Al Franken

U.S. Senator from Minnesota

U.S. Senator Al Franken was born on May 21, 1951, and grew up in St. Louis Park, Minnesota. In 1973, he graduated from Harvard, where he met his wife Franni. They've been married for over 40 years, and have two grown children, Thomasin and Joe. Al and Franni’s first grandchild, Joe, was born to Thomasin and her husband Brody in May 2013. Jacob, their second grandson, was born to Joe and his wife Stephanie in January 2016. Their third grandchild Avery, and their first granddaughter, was born in September 2016. Before running for the Senate, Sen. Franken spent 37 years as a comedy writer, author, and radio talk show host. He has also taken part in seven USO tours, visiting and performing for our troops overseas in Germany, Bosnia, Kosovo, and Uzbekistan, as well as Iraq, Afghanistan, and Kuwait four times. First elected to the Senate in 2008, and re-elected in 2014, Sen. Franken has built a successful record of legislative accomplishments by standing up for Minnesota's interests and finding commonsense, bipartisan solutions that improve people's lives. His work has improved health care for families, preserved Americans' privacy, reformed damaging Wall Street practices, modernized farm policy, and helped ensure that American workers are adequately trained to fill open jobs. Sen. Franken currently sits on the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee; the Judiciary Committee; the Energy and Natural Resources Committee, and the Committee on Indian Affairs.