The Republican is known as a former coach of the college football team at Auburn University, one of Alabama’s two major universities.
WASHINGTON—Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.) will not seek re-election in 2026 and will, instead, run for governor of Alabama.
Tuberville was elected to the United States Senate in 2020 and is serving his first term in the body. He is best known for being the coach of the college football team at Auburn University, one of Alabama’s two major universities, with the sport being very popular in the state.
A campaign website was established in his name on May 27. Tuberville formally announced his candidacy on “The Will Cain Show” later that day.
“I will be the future governor of the great state of Alabama,” Tuberville said. “I’m a football coach, I’m a leader, I’m a builder, I’m a recruiter, and we’re going to grow Alabama,” he noted.
Tuberville will not resign from the Senate in order to run for the election. Despite the commute required between Washington and Alabama, he said that he would campaign on weekends for the Republican Party’s nomination in the election.
“I’ll be running every weekend, doing the things I need to do to make sure I can get over the threshold and win this governor’s race, come back to Alabama, and work with President [Donald] Trump … because he’s fully supportive of this,” Tuberville said.
Trump has made no public statements to this effect.
Tuberville’s decision not to seek a second term in the Senate creates an “open primary” contest for the Republican nomination in that election. Alabama has one of the most conservative statewide electorates in the United States, and no Democrat currently holds statewide office. With a Cook Partisan Voting Index score of “R+15,” it is likely that the winner of the Republican nomination will win the general election.
Tuberville’s campaign platform, as published on his website, is described as “Alabama First” and articulates standard conservative agenda on issues such as transgenderism, taxes, tariffs on trade, border security, school choice, and the Second Amendment. Additionally, he has emphasized the need to retain college graduates in the state’s workforce.
“We’re going to do everything possible to make sure our kids, when they’ve graduated in this great state, the Yellowhammer State, that they stay in this state and work,” Tuberville said.