Tuberville’s bid for Alabama governor has hit a procedural snag after a Republican challenger filed a residency eligibility challenge with the Alabama Republican Party, arguing that U.S. Sen. Tommy Tuberville does not satisfy the state’s requirement that the governor have lived in Alabama for at least seven years before an election.
The challenger, Ken McFeeters, filed his request Tuesday seeking to question Tuberville’s eligibility for the Republican nomination. In a phone interview, McFeeters said he believes Tuberville lives in a multimillion-dollar beach home in Florida rather than in Alabama, where Tuberville has listed a smaller home as his residence in Auburn.
McFeeters cited property tax records, saying they show the former Auburn University football coach has an Auburn home appraised at $291,780 with a homestead exemption. He also said records show Tuberville has a beach home in Walton County, Florida, with an estimated market value of $5.5 million.
In addition to the property records, McFeeters argued that Tuberville’s travel history supports the residency challenge, saying his travel records show frequent trips to the Florida Panhandle. McFeeters wrote in his letter to party officials that the available records, “if accurate, strongly suggest that Auburn may have been used as an address of convenience rather than as a true domicile.”
Tuberville’s campaign disputed the allegations. Mallory Jaspers, a spokeswoman for Tuberville, called the challenge a “ridiculous PR stunt from a desperate candidate,” saying in an email that the Auburn home remains the senator’s primary residence and that the “made-up narrative” has not worked before, including during Tuberville’s 2019 Senate run.
Jaspers wrote that Tuberville has “proudly represented Alabama in the United States Senate for the past six years,” adding that “This made-up narrative didn’t work when he was running for Senate in 2019, and it certainly isn’t going to work now,” according to the email. Tuberville also told The Associated Press earlier this month that he believes he meets the residency requirement, saying, “We checked it out. I wouldn’t be doing this if I thought it was a problem.”
Under Alabama Republican Party procedures, Jeannie Burniston, a spokeswoman for the party, said challenges are heard and decided by the party’s 21-member steering committee. Burniston said the committee will decide whether there is enough evidence for a challenge to proceed to a hearing, where both sides would present evidence, and she said she could not comment on challenges.
The dispute centers on the wording of Alabama’s constitution. The requirement states the governor and lieutenant governor “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.”
Susan Pace Hamill, a University of Alabama law professor, said the residency requirement’s language is vague. In an email first reported by the Alabama Reflector, Hamill said it could be interpreted as seven consecutive years, or it could be read as seven years broken up by periods living elsewhere, while also saying Alabama’s culture and history supports the argument for seven consecutive years.
The case follows earlier residency accusations that surfaced during Tuberville’s Senate campaign, when opponents called him “Florida man” or characterized him as a “tourist in Alabama.” For now, the steering committee’s decision on whether the evidence is sufficient is expected to determine whether the matter moves forward to a hearing.