AUBURN — In one of the worst-kept secrets in Alabama politics, U.S. Sen. Tommy Tuberville announced today he will run for governor in the 2026 Republican Party primary.
Tuberville announced his candidacy in a television interview on Fox News.
“I started my Senate run almost seven years ago, right in the same building (Byron’s Smokehouse),” Tuberville (R-Auburn) said. “You can see my friends and family, my three-month-old new granddaughter, Rosie Grace, here cheering us on. But it’s great to be here.
“My wife and I, Suzanne, moved here over 25 years ago. As you know, I coached, and it was a great time. We made some great friends. It’s been a lot of fun. My two boys, Tucker and Troy, were educated here — it’s home.”
Tuberville cited his run for the Senate in announcing his gubernatorial pursuit.
“A few years ago, I decided to give back to this great country and fight,” he said. “President Trump was a guy that really was behind me in doing the Senate race. He’s been behind me ever since, and today I will announce that I will be the future governor of the great state of Alabama.”
After months of private deliberations over the gubernatorial bid, Tuberville began telling donors in April he had made his decision and he was ready to “come home” and seek the state’s highest constitutional office.
Tuberville said today he is prepared to finish out the remainder of his term in the Senate, which will coincide with his potential inauguration as governor in January 2027.
On his newly launched campaign website, Tuberville lays out an “Alabama First Agenda” anchored in fighting “woke ideology,” expanding school choice, and protecting Second Amendment rights. He promises to cut taxes, reduce government waste, and bring manufacturing jobs back to Alabama.
His campaign launched a slight campaign rebrand from his iconic 2020 logo and rolled out the news on official social media channels.
As governor, Tuberville also promises strong border enforcement and the deportation of illegal immigrants with criminal records, staunch opposition to taxpayer-funded abortion, and support for Alabama’s farmers, defense sector, and veterans.
Tuberville showcases an endorsement from President Trump and a promise to take his national agenda to Montgomery.
The path for victory is much more clear for Tuberville now that a long-awaited contender in the race, Lt. Gov. Will Ainsworth, announced last week that he will return full-time to his prosperous career in the private sector as his two children complete high school.
Ainsworth was recognized as the only GOP challenger interested in and financed enough to meaningfully oppose Tuberville’s bid for governor. Elected in 2018 and reelectedin 2024 as lieutenant governor, Ainsworth is term-limited from running again.
This is not the first time the former Auburn head football coach has eyed the governorship.
In 2017, Tuberville filed paperwork to run for the office following the resignation of former Gov. Robert Bentley, and invested $100,000 of his own money into exploring the bid. Tuberville ultimately dissolved that campaign, which he attributed to consolidating support behind Gov. Kay Ivey, who announced she would seek election to the office after constitutionally stepping up in Bentley’s absence.
Tuberville finally took his big shot at statewide office in 2020 when he challenged then-incumbent Democrat U.S. Sen. Doug Jones. At that time, the only thing standing in his way was the former U.S. Attorney General and the previous holder of that office, Jeff Sessions in the 2020 Alabama Republican Party primary.
Tuberville easily routed both opponents by over 60% and has served as senator since he was sworn into the office in January 2021.
Candidates for elected office in 2026 were able to officially begin fundraising last Monday, May 19 – one year until the primary election date, May 19, 2026.
As of this afternoon, Tuberville had not formed his principal campaign committee with the Alabama Secretary of State’s office. However, he has plenty of time to do so, as party qualifying does not end until January 2026.
As effectively the only contender, Tuberville is expected to have no trouble raising those funds for his gubernatorial bid. At the end of the first quarter this year, Tuberville reported having $628,327.28 in his Senate campaign account, according to FEC records. That total can be transferred into his state campaign account. Alabama law allows a principal campaign committee to transfer funds to another principal campaign committee on behalf of the same person.
As Tuberville prepares to fight for a new title in his professional career, he remained consistent today with a commitment he impressed heavily over the years.
“I’m doing this to help this country and the great state of Alabama,” Tuberville said.
“I’m a football coach, I’m a leader, I’m a builder, I’m a recruiter,” he said. “And we’re going to grow Alabama. We’re going to bring manufacturing to the state. We’re going to stop this illegal immigration. We’re going to make education better again, and we’re going to everything possible to make sure our kids, when they graduate in this great state — the Yellowhammer State, that they stay in this state and work.
“We’re going to have workforce development. We got a lot of work to do nationally. I’m looking forward to that with President Trump. He’s got us on the right track, but in the meantime, I’ll be running every weekend, doing the things I need to do to make sure that I can get over the threshold and win this governor’s race, come back to Alabama, work with President Trump — and not stop — because he’s fully supportive of this, to keep making America great again and put Alabama first.”
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