Republican Sen. Tommy Tuberville is running for governor of Alabama, he announced Tuesday with the launch of a campaign website.
If it is successful, the long-expected move will cap a whirlwind decade for Tuberville. In 2016, he was still working as the University of Cincinnati’s head football coach (he previously coached at Auburn University in Alabama). In 2020, he won a seat representing Alabama in the Senate in his first foray into elected office.
He could end 2026 as the governor-elect. Tuberville is seeking to succeed Kay Ivey, a fellow Republican who is finishing her second term and cannot run for a third consecutive term.
His prominence in Alabama, driven by his football career, helped jump-start his political turn, with Tuberville framing himself as a political outsider who still sports the moniker “coach.”
He has also positioned himself close to President Donald Trump, who endorsed his 2020 Senate bid over former Attorney General Jeff Sessions, whom Trump had picked from the Senate to join his Cabinet but then fired after the 2018 midterm election.
After he defeated Sessions for the Republican nomination for Sessions' old seat, Tuberville cruised to victory over Democratic Sen. Doug Jones, ending Democrats’ brief hold on the seat. Jones won the seat in a 2017 special election after Republicans nominated Roy Moore, whom multiple women had accused of engaging in sexual misconduct decades ago, when the women were teenagers and Moore was an adult.
Tuberville has worked to secure an alliance not only with Trump, but also with other conservatives and group,s like the Club for Growth, which endorsed his bid last week. And he clashed with Democrats (and some Republicans) over his decision to mount a 10-month campaign to block military promotions during Joe Biden’s presidency in protest of the Defense Department’s abortion policy.
He immediately becomes the favorite in the race to replace Ivey. But previous opponents have accused him of not being a full-time Alabama resident, accusations he has denied, and the issue could come up again if he does end up facing a significant challenge.
Tuberville is also the second sitting senator to launch a run for governor this year.
Sen. Michael Bennet, D-Colo., is also running in his state — but Bennet's Senate term is not up until 2028, while Tuberville's will be on the ballot next year along with the governor's race. His decision not to run for re-election could open up a competitive Senate primary, as Republicans jockey for the opportunity in the deep-red state.
