Alabama Republican Party to hear Tommy Tuberville residency challenge

The Alabama Republican Party (ALGOP) will hear a challenge to gubernatorial nominee Tommy Tuberville’s residency.

Ken McFeeters, one of three Republicans who ran for governor against the U.S. senator and who has filed three separate challenges and a lawsuit over Tuberville’s residency, said in an interview Monday that the party informed him they would hold a hearing on the matter on June 14. 

“I was totally, completely floored,” McFeeters said in a phone interview. “It’s a hell of a sacrifice that the steering committee makes to do these things, because they’ve often got to do it on a Saturday or Sunday.”

Jordan Doufexis, chair of the Tuberville campaign, said in a statement Monday afternoon that “it’s time to provide the facts and move on.”

“We will submit a comprehensive response to the Republican Steering Committee, including Coach Tuberville’s tax returns, property records and other documentation demonstrating that he is a resident citizen of Alabama and has been for well beyond the period required under the Alabama Constitution,” he said. “I have no doubt that, when the record is reviewed in full, the committee and everyone else will conclude that Coach Tuberville not only meets but exceeds every constitutional requirement to serve as governor of Alabama.” 

Tuberville has long faced questions about his residency in the state. Tuberville moved to Alabama in 1999 when he started coaching football for Auburn University. He told Alabama Daily News last summer that time contributed to his residency qualification, and has said a homestead exemption claimed on property in Auburn by his wife and son in 2018 is proof of residence. 

AL.com reported in May of last year that Tuberville and his wife voted in Florida in 2018, after the homestead exemption was claimed. Lagniappe, a newspaper based in Mobile, recently reported that Tuberville had an active Florida drivers license until 2023 and that the state denied a public records request for any tax documents that would indirectly confirm Tuberville’s residency. 

ALGOP Chairman Scott Stadthagen said in a statement Monday afternoon the party is holding the hearing after reviewing McFeeters’ filing.

“We are committed to ensuring the process is handled fairly, consistently, and in accordance with our established rules. Because this is an ongoing contest proceeding, we will not comment further at this time,” he said.

The Alabama Constitution requires candidates for governor and lieutenant governor to be residents of the state for at least seven years. 

“The governor and lieutenant governor shall each be at least thirty years of age when elected, and shall have been citizens of the United States ten years and resident citizens of this state at least seven years next before the date of their election,” the Constitution reads.

Tuberville won 421,754 votes, about 85.5% of the total, in the May 19 primary. McFeeters got 47,166 votes, about 9.6% of the total. Should ALGOP find that Tuberville does not meet the residency requirements of the Alabama Constitution, McFeeters would become the party’s nominee for governor and face Democratic nominee Doug Jones in November.

The party previously dismissed McFeeters’ challenge in February, which would have removed Tuberville from the May 19 ballot had it been successful. 

McFeeters also sued Tuberville in Covington County, which he said Monday was “the closest I could get to Destin, Florida.” The lawsuit was dismissed on May 18 due to a lack of jurisdiction.

McFeeters has said he provided expense reports that show Tuberville’s trips from D.C. to “home,” which were often to the Destin-Fort Walton Beach Airport, not Auburn or the surrounding area, where Tuberville claims to live.

Tuberville is represented by Bert Jordan, a Birmingham-based lawyer who has represented the last three governors of Alabama and has supported the ALGOP in U.S. Supreme Court amicus filings related to congressional districts. As of Monday afternoon, McFeeters had meetings planned with potential attorneys. 

The party is represented by Balch & Bingham LLP who McFeeters described as “the most politically connected, most powerful law firm in Alabama.” 

McFeeters said he should be the party’s nominee because he has followed the rules and lived in Alabama for more than seven years. 

“If he did this, he’s not a Republican, because Republicans follow the rules. I’m a lot more Republican than that,” McFeeters said.