BREAKING: Judge dismisses Tuberville residency case

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July 9, 2026

A Montgomery County circuit judge on Thursday dismissed the quo warranto action seeking to disqualify U.S. Senator Tommy Tuberville (R-Auburn) from the Alabama governor’s ballot in 2026, ruling the court lacks jurisdiction over the claim.

Circuit Judge Brooke E. Reid granted Tuberville’s motion to dismiss in an order filed this morning in Dorgan v. Tuberville.

The order is final and immediately appealable.

“While declaratory or other injunctive relief may be available to challenge a certified nominee’s eligibility to hold office under the Alabama Constitution, for the aforementioned reasons, this Court finds that it does not have jurisdiction over the sole claim of quo warranto at this time,” Reid wrote. “Accordingly, Defendant’s Motion to Dismiss is GRANTED.”

Reid did not decide whether Tuberville satisfies the seven-year residency requirement in § 117 of the Alabama Constitution. She decided that quo warranto, the only claim plaintiffs Brooke Lynn Dorgan and Justin Jude LeBlanc brought, is not the mechanism for asking.

Under Ala. Code § 6-6-591, quo warranto reaches a person who “usurps, intrudes into or unlawfully holds or exercises any public office.” Tuberville is a certified party nominee. Reid found no Alabama case treating that status as public office.

“While the ‘office of nominee’ has been recognized by Alabama Courts as conferring ‘quasi-officer’ status, thereby giving its holder a valuable right, there is currently no case law of which this Court is aware holding that a ‘quasi-officer’ falls within the definition of public officer,” Reid wrote.

She noted the plaintiffs’ strongest authority, Johnson v. Roberson, contained a footnote advising that “a safe practice would be to join quo warranto with a petition for writ of mandamus or prohibition when challenging a candidate’s eligibility after the primary election, but prior to the general election.”

They did not. “The sole cause of action in this case is for quo warranto—no other claim has been joined,” the order states.

Tuberville’s team argued the judiciary is stripped of authority over election disputes under Ala. Code § 17-16-44 and § 142 of the Alabama Constitution. Reid did not accept that framing.

“The suggestion that Courts are without authority, when properly invoked, to rule upon the Constitutional eligibility of a nominee to hold office is lacking in merit,” she wrote.

“Public interest certainly weighs in favor of judicial resolution of resolution of Constitutional eligibility to hold office in advance of a general election. There is also a very strong argument that quo warranto should be available cause of action to challenge the Constitutional eligibility of the certified nominee of a major political party prior to general election.”

“While this Court lacks authority to extend the application of quo warranto to a certified nominee, that does not imply that it should not be extended in this case, nor that the Plaintiffs are estopped altogether from seeking Court resolution of Constitutional eligibility to hold office.”

Reid’s order acknowledged what the Alabama Republican Party did in June.

The party held a post-primary contest hearing on the same residency grounds, issued a final decision finding Tuberville easily met the “resident citizen” duration requirement, and certified him as its nominee for governor.

Under Ala. Code § 17-13-71, nomination contests on eligibility grounds belong to the party.

Reid cited Ex Parte Baxley: “For over 50 years, the courts in this state have adhered to the legislative mandate that political parties are empowered to settle their own disputes in primary elections.”

Reid designated the order final, clearing an immediate appeal to the Alabama Supreme Court.

The general election is November 3, 2026. Tuberville remains locked in an election re-match with Democrat and former U.S. Senator Doug Jones (D-Mountain Brook).

Grayson Everett is the editor in chief of Yellowhammer News. You can follow him on X @Grayson270.