Residency issue hovers over Tuberville’s campaign
Republican Sen. Tommy Tuberville is running for governor of Alabama. His announcement on May 27 ended months of speculation that he would enter the gubernatorial race. Most political pundits agree he instantly became the frontrunner to succeed Gov. Kay Ivey, who cannot run again because of term limits.
Three high-profile state leaders were on a shortlist of contenders to replace Ivey as recently as six months ago – Attorney General Steve Marshall, Lt. Gov. Will Ainsworth and Agriculture Commissioner Rick Pate.
Marshall was the first to bow out of contention. He announced in late December 2024 that he was “definitely not running for governor” as he and his wife had decided over Thanksgiving that it “just didn’t seem to be a good next step for us.”
After Tuberville’s announcement, Marshall said he’ll seek the Senate position Tuberville is giving up.
That left Ainsworth, who has talked about a possible gubernatorial candidacy for several years, as the strongest candidate for the state’s highest office. But when Tuberville’s name entered the picture, Ainsworth stepped aside. On May 21, he announced he would not run for governor in 2026.
That left Pate, who quickly took his name out of the hat after Tuberville’s official announcement, saying he would seek the lieutenant governor’s position instead.
However, Tuberville won’t run unopposed. On May 29, Democrat Chad “Chig” Martin of Dothan put his hat into the ring, and on June 3 former congressional candidate Ken McFeeters announced he is running for governor. McFetters ran for Congress in 2024 but managed to get only 6% of the vote in the Republican primary.
Qualifying doesn’t close until February, so others could join the political fray as well.
Perhaps the biggest question hovering over Tuberville’s campaign is Alabama’s constitutional residency requirement for the governor. The Alabama Democratic Party will almost certainly challenge his eligibility based on Section 117 of the Alabama Constitution, which mandates that the governor must be a state resident for “at least seven years next before the date of their election.”
Tuberville has homes in both Auburn, Alabama, and Santa Rosa Beach, Florida.
Property tax records show he owns a $270,000 home in Auburn, where he claims a homestead exemption, and a $4 million beach home in Walton County, Florida.
Voting records show that Tuberville and his wife last voted in Florida on Nov. 6, 2018. He switched his voter registration to Alabama in 2019.
Tuberville addressed the concerns at a March 2025 press conference, citing his service as a U.S. senator for Alabama and stating, “There is nothing to that (the residency question).” Tuberville faced the same questions about his residency in the 2020 Senate race, and it did not hurt his campaign. It will be interesting to see if he can dodge the issue again as he pushed to become Alabama’s next governor.
