The Tuberville residency case dismissed Thursday drew a sharp victory lap from U.S. Sen. Tommy Tuberville’s gubernatorial campaign, which said the latest legal challenge against the Republican nominee had been “sacked for a loss.”
A Montgomery County circuit judge dismissed the quo warranto action seeking to disqualify Tuberville (R-Auburn) from the 2026 Alabama governor’s ballot, ruling the court lacked jurisdiction over the plaintiffs’ sole claim.
The court did not rule on whether Tuberville meets Alabama’s seven-year residency requirement for governor.
Joe Espy, counsel for Tuberville, said the ruling followed Alabama law and should leave the decision to voters.
“The court’s decision today follows the Alabama constitution and the law that has been in effect for generations and generations,” Espy said. “Hopefully the court’s decision brings an end to all litigation. The decision on our next governor should not be up to any court, but rather the people of Alabama.”
The ruling followed an earlier Alabama Republican Party decision rejecting a post-primary challenge to Tuberville’s eligibility and certifying him as the party’s nominee for governor.
Jordan Doufexis, chairman of Tuberville’s campaign, cast Thursday’s dismissal as another defeat for Democrats trying to keep the former Auburn football coach off the ballot.
“Doug Jones’ residency hoax just got sacked for a loss as a Democrat judge in Montgomery dismissed yet another desperate lawsuit from ‘DC Doug’s’ Democrat proxies,” Doufexis said.
Doufexis argued Democrats have failed to make the residency issue stick after months of attacks on Tuberville’s eligibility.
“For months, DC Doug and his allies pushed the absurd claim that Alabama’s senior U.S. Senator for the last six years somehow lacks Alabama residency credentials,” Doufexis said. “They were so wrong on the law that they started attacking the Alabama Supreme Court in an effort to blame Republican judges before the local judge had even ruled.”
He said the ruling undercut that argument because it came from a Montgomery circuit judge rather than the state’s Republican-controlled appellate courts.
“Today’s ruling didn’t come from a Republican court protecting Coach Tuberville; it came from a Montgomery Democrat judge who followed the law and rejected a bogus lawsuit aimed at hijacking the election before Alabama voters could decide,” Doufexis said.
Tuberville’s campaign also used the decision to sharpen its general election contrast against Democratic nominee Doug Jones.
“DC Doug cannot run on open borders, men in women’s sports, DEI, defunding the police, the socialist left, or the Biden-Jones record, so his buddies tried to drag Coach through the mud instead,” Doufexis said. “Well, today’s ruling wiped that mud away.”
Doufexis said Tuberville is now “5-0 against these ridiculous challenges” and predicted he would “win the championship with the people of Alabama in November.”
The general election is November 3, 2026.
Sawyer Knowles is a state and political reporter for Yellowhammer News. You may contact him at [email protected].
