eliasAl Franken will be the next senator from Minnesota. That’s the message conveyed by Marc Elias, the Franken campaign’s lead recount attorney, on a conference call Tuesday afternoon. Not surprisingly, Elias praised yesterday’s ruling by a three-judge panel that declared Franken the winner in the U.S. Senate contest.

“We are extremely pleased with the court’s final opinion,” Elias told reporters. “Al Franken won this election fair and square. Al Franken won this election because more Minnesotans voted for him than for Norm Coleman or for any other candidate.”

Elias (pictured) briefed reporters just two hours after his counterpart for the Coleman camp, Ben Ginsberg, vowed to appeal the ruling to the Minnesota Supreme Court. The Republican’s legal team has also hinted that they may try to take the case into the federal courts as well. But Elias pooh-poohed their chances at success.

“It’s extremely unlikely that the U.S. Supreme Court would have reason to take this case,” Elias said, noting that the nation’s top court has only heard two election cases in recent memory. “If former Sen. Coleman chooses to appeal to the Minnesota Supreme Court, I think that will be the end of the road for him.”

Elias was hesitant to give an estimate of when the contest will likely conclude, but he expressed hope that the state Supreme Court will handle any appeal in an expedited manner. “Based on past history I think it will move relatively quickly,” he said. “I think the estimates that are in weeks are more accurate than the estimates that are in months.”