Speaker Nathaniel Ledbetter said Tuesday he is excited about Tuberville as Alabama’s next governor, arguing that the former football coach’s lifelong career as a recruiter makes him uniquely suited to bring jobs and industry to the state.

Ledbetter, who served as chairman of Tuberville’s 2020 U.S. Senate campaign and said he spoke with Tuberville (R-Auburn) recently, framed a potential Tuberville governorship in economic development terms — a recruiter sitting in the governor’s chair with a full toolkit of legislative incentives behind him.

“Can you just imagine, with everything we got going on, with all the incentives that the House and the Senate has passed to give tools, and Alabama ranks number eight in businesses that want to come to our state — can you just imagine what it’s going to look like when we got a recruiter sitting in that chair?” Ledbetter said. “Who better to recruit industry than Tommy Tuberville?”

Ledbetter pointed to the legislative groundwork already laid for economic development, arguing that what Alabama needs now is someone who knows how to close the deal with businesses looking to relocate.

“With the tools that we give him to be able to recruit industry, what kind of jobs can we bring to Alabama, what kind of opportunities our kids will have and grandkids because of it,” Ledbetter said. “So I’m excited. I really am. I think it’s one of those things we all look forward to.”

Ledbetter praised Tuberville as a natural people person, describing moments he had witnessed firsthand.

“I’ve been in restaurants before with him when he just disappears and he’s in the back helping the waiter,” Ledbetter said. “That’s not a put on. He is a people person.”

Sawyer Knowles is a capitol reporter for Yellowhammer News. You may contact him at [email protected].