Former Democrat U.S. Senator Doug Jones (D-Mountain Brook) is trying to add some energy to his campaign for Governor of Alabama in 2026, despite having a virtually no chance at winning against U.S. Senator Tommy Tuberville (R-Auburn).
Jones announced his campaign kickoff event, which will be held in Birmingham on December 12. Special musical guests will include Alabama native and Grammy award-winning artist Jason Isabell and DJ Slim, once named as Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin’s wedding planning ‘dream team.’
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After much speculation in recent months, Jones quietly filed paperwork with the Alabama Secretary of State’s Office to run for governor in late November.
The election contest is seen as somewhat of a rematch of the 2020 U.S. Senate election in Alabama when Tuberville easily defeated Jones by a 60/40 margin in the November 2020 primary election when Jones was an incumbent Democrat on the ballot.
The evidence suggests that this race won’t be much different.
According to a memo from Cygnal, one of the nation’s top polling firms, Tuberville leads Jones 53% to 34% among likely 2026 general election voters.
“Former U.S. Senator Doug Jones was beat by U.S. Senator Tommy Tuberville in the 2020 election, a race that saw one of the largest defeats for a sitting U.S. Senator in recent history. If Jones decides to go on a futile mission in the 2026 gubernatorial election, he will meet a blowout defeat,” Cygnal reports.
Currently, Tuberville has over $6 million in his campaign war chest and no real primary opponents.
Within the Democratic Primary, Jones is going up against Chad “Chig” Martin, Dr. Will Boyd, and JaMel Jermaine Brown.
Party primary elections will be held on May 19, 2026, and general election, the likely venue of a Tuberville vs. Jones rematch, will be held on November 3, 2026.
Yaffee is a contributing writer to Yellowhammer News and hosts “The Yaffee Program” weekdays 9-11 a.m. on WVNN. You can follow him on X @Yaffee
