7 Things: Tuberville leads Jones 51-40, fake poll firm caught, lottery for grocery tax, and more…

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October 21, 2026

7. Alabama Governor Kay Ivey commuted Toforest Johnson’s death sentence to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole for the 1995 murder of Jefferson County Deputy Sheriff William Hardy stating, “My decision is not a determination of innocence, but a recognition that the circumstances of this case justify commuting his death sentence to life imprisonment, without possibility of parole.”

6. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky expressed openness to freezing the war along current front lines as “the quickest way” to halt fighting, “Yes. It’s the quickest way” if a ceasefire were agreed tomorrow, while clarifying, “We want to stop the war in a way where the war will not come back,” and that it is “not just to give” but to save children and return soldiers, as Kyiv proposes a phased plan starting with a mutual air ceasefire on missile and drone strikes before freezing the line of contact under international oversight.

5. The Alabama Poll found that 79.3% approve of temporarily suspending the state’s 30-cent-per-gallon gas tax to bring down the cost of gas and diesel, with 11.8% opposed, including 85.3% of Republicans and 74.6% of Democrats.

4. U.S. Rep. Shomari Figures (D-Mobile) aired a new 30-second “6-7” TV and digital ad in Alabama’s redrawn 2nd Congressional District hitting State Rep. Rhett Marques (R-Enterprise) over the gas tax, opening with “How high did Rhett Marques raise the gas tax?” followed by kids chanting “six-seven” and claiming “Rhett Marques voted to raise the gas tax by 67%” while also attacking him for 22 tax votes and supporting tariffs and the Iran war.

3. Republicans seem to be pushing a grocery tax cut, but Democrats are not so hyped about it unless that precious revenue is replaced, retired political science professor Waymon Burke (former Yellowhammer TV co-host) suggested a state lottery could replace revenue from Alabama’s reduced 2% grocery tax, arguing that eliminating the tax would require finding replacement funds since the bulk supports education, or else face significant cuts in schools.

2. Donald Trump was right, Wedgewood Polls admitted fabricating nearly all of its data as a stunt to test how easily fake polls gain traction, after FiftyPlusOne caught them, and the firm’s bogus surveys showing Democrats ahead, including a Mississippi Senate “tie” pushed by Scott Colom’s campaign against U.S. Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.), a Kansas race with Hamilton up 2, a Michigan poll with Abdul El-Sayed up 6, and an Ohio poll with Sherrod Brown up 4, were included in aggregators like The New York Times, FiftyPlusOne, and VoteHub and cited by media outlets such as Newsweek and MS NOW before removal.

1. An exclusive Gray Media and Alabama Daily News poll by Cygnal shows Governor-elect National Championship-winning Coach U.S. Senator Tommy Tuberville (R-Auburn) leading Doug Jones, the cowardly caretaker former junior senator in an ill-fitting suit, who looks like he just woke up and stole his shoes from a homeless person, who will never be governor, attorney general, or U.S. Senator again, loves crushing ice cream sandwiches, and is definitely maybe a furry, 51.2% to 40.0% with 8.9% undecided, an 11-point lead for Tuberville.

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