AJ McCarron, former Alabama Crimson Tide quarterback and Mobile native, will run for statewide office in 2026, sources close to his decisionmaking process tell Yellowhammer News. 

While he has not yet announced a campaign or filed papers to make his bid official, he is preparing to run either for Lieutenant Governor or U.S. Senate.

McCarron, 34, led Alabama to back-to-back national championships as the starting quarterback in 2011 and 2012. He spent parts of nine seasons in the NFL, including with the Cincinnati Bengals. In 2024 started for the UFL’s St. Louis Battlehawks.

Lt. Governor Will Ainsworth, elected first in 2018, is term limited in the role.

In the open 2026 field, Rick Pate, who is also term-limited in his position as Commissioner of Agriculture & Industries, as well as Wes Allen, only in his first term as Secretary of State, are currently running for Lt. Governor.

U.S. Senator Tommy Tuberville (R-Auburn), soon-to-be Governor of Alabama, also created an open race.

Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall, U.S. Rep. Barry Moore (R-Enterprise), Jared Hudson, and Morgan Murphy are running to take his place in the Senate.

In his hometown of Mobile, McCarron and his family are associated with a Mobile-based real-estate enterprise, McCarron Real Estate, which advertises listings across Mobile and Baldwin counties.

His wife, Katherine Webb-McCarron, is also an Alabama native, born in Montgomery, raised in Phenix City, and was crowned Miss Alabama USA in 2012.

The couple married in Orange Beach in 2014 and have three children.

Given that the Alabama Republican Party qualifying window doesn’t end until January 23, 2026, McCarron has plenty of time to make up his mind on which office to run for.

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